Here's a selection from our upcoming Varenna Writers Anthology, just in time for Thanksgiving!
It seems to me that the world is getting more
and more angry, threatening, chaotic, disturbing and violent than I ever
remember it being before. The news continues to emphasize our need to be more
tolerant of those with whom we may disagree, more understanding of other’s
ideas and viewpoints, and, in general, more civil. This little vignette I am
about to relate is no great expose or even “big deal,” but it spoke to me in
its small, rather simple way.
I was sitting in the chair in my beauty
salon, awaiting a haircut, gazing out the side window at the sidewalk, when
suddenly a magnificent turkey gobbler came into view. Alongside him, trotting
to keep up with the long strides of the turkey, was a beautiful black and white
feathered rooster. Stopping to look around, something interested them and they
ambled over to a glass door on the other side of the sidewalk. They peered
together into the glass door, appearing to wait for someone. Obviously they
were together in the sense of companions or friends, and while I may be
assuming more than was actually happening, they looked as if they were enjoying
each other and were somehow communicating as they stood there. One of the hair
stylists had granola she had brought for her lunch. She grabbed a handful,
carefully opened the door, and gently scattered the food along the sidewalk.
The poultry couple lifted their heads, not at all alarmed at the sudden
appearance of a human, and considered the idea of eating the granola. Evidently
they agreed to go for it, and they both began to peck, more or less taking
turns. Someone in the salon took out her cell phone and photographed the scene.
It was an episodic minute that somehow
shouted the much needed point, to quote the clichés of the past: “Make love,
not war;” “Opposites attract;” “Celebrate diversity,” etc.
I know turkeys and chickens are not mortal
enemies like mountain lions and deer, but this little scene, sweet, unusual,
and very, very pertinent considering the current state of the world, seemed to
speak to those of us witnessing it. It saddens me to think how different the
world would be if we could only learn from the turkey and the chicken.
