signs of spring

[dragonlady7]

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Mom texted the family groupchat today all excited. “Vultures circling the barn!” she wrote.

Sounds ominous, but, no– 1) Turkey vultures are migratory and don’t return to our area until spring. 2) Specifically, for some reason, there are several turkey vultures who like our barn. 2a) not to roost in, no. That’s not what they do on the barn roof.

I texted back, “Put Love Shack on the jukebox,” and my mom wrote back with a winky emoji, which I did not know she knew how to use.

Flash back about, hm, how old am I now… okay probably about twenty-five years ago, now. We’re sitting in the back porch sunroom, recently renovated into a pleasant lounging-space, no longer the mudroom it was for my early childhood. There’s a view of the barn from the back porch, which you can’t see from other rooms of the house.

Mom leaps up. She is something of a birdwatcher, and likes to observe the winged critters around the house. She exclaims, she has seen big wings out by the barn. She grabs the binoculars. There’s a vulture on the barn roof! There are– more than one vulture on the barn roof! She manages to get an unobstructed view. All us kids are sitting up in great interest, waiting to find out what she sees.

The vultures are– there’s flapping, but they’re– perched? there are – there are two of them– they’re —

oh, mom says.

“What?” we all ask.

Well, Mom admits, now we know where the vultures go to make more vultures.

Anyway she’s been watching ever since and they come back every year. We don’t know where they nest, but we sure know where they fuck.

I think I have different associations with what vultures are an omen of than most people. (Your picture was not posted)

Comments

[minoanmiss]

This is very life affirming.

[rmc28]

And also hilarious. Very cheering this blustery morning.

[dragonlady7]

The family groupchat was much cheered.
My sister also appended a photo of her two spaniels lying half-in, half-out of her flappy screen door, so excited that they could do this.

I forgot that Tumblr loves vultures-- this got picked up and now has like 1500 notes on it, so the world is all rejoicing at the return of the Spring Vulture Barn Roof Porn, LOL.

[galadhir]

LOL! Hurray for the rude signs of spring :)

[dragonlady7]

The vultures aren't waiting for the First of May, it turns out, LOL.

[unicornduke]

lol. we call the vultures down by my parents "Uncle M's Children" because he shoots so many deer in the orchard, they just hang around his place all the time. They are so cool

[dragonlady7]

IDK if they're back to the farm yet, but they love the compost pile.
I think the closest I've ever seen a vulture was that we came around the corner through the hedgerow to the compost, and a vulture flap-teetered its way silently into the sky and that was when I realized they don't talk! They don't chirp. They just grunt and hiss a little, and not at humans. They're so fascinating!
And so big, and yet they weigh less than a dressed chicken carcass. 3 pounds! Unsurprising I suppose, but.