Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Wednesday, 18th of July, 29th day of summer, a turkey sheds a feather on grass in Norton Shores, MI. On day of the Wild Turkey, you have 65 days to shed resistance to summer.

I am glad that walking and bike riding slows my life, and I see clues
of the life around me. I was walking to my bank and I was happy to see
a Turkey tail feather, a beautiful feather that proves the robust good
health of its donor, a male turkey. I thought I had seen the male
turkeys fanning out their tail feathers, strutting their glorious
stuff.

Puff feathers out, spread tail feathers wide and dance, dragging wings
along the grass. I saw a gaggle of male turkeys, who court together,
engaged on the long, sunny front lawn of a home between Nunica and
Lamont. I was waiting in the car while my friend, an interior
designer, delivered a set of plans to a client. The client offered her
a seat at the table and a choice of buffalo or salmon burgers, and she
turned her client's offer away. I wonder if it were because we were
driving to see a film and filmmaker talk-back at UICA or she didn't
want to be seen with me. Frankly, I like her enough to overlook her
overstrung reactions to social situations that look like opportunities
for social climbing or business outreach. I only wish she had grabbed
two or three buffalo burgers out the door, even if she had said she
was alone.

If men of the homo sapiens have a courtship display, I certainly
haven't impressed her with mine. Courtship dances are all about
mating, and I have a single child and she had nieces. Yes, children
are not the end of life and it will make some people cringe if I say
even I want a few clever children to walk the earth that remind me of
her. We're just friends, and I am glad for that friendship. However,
even she could use a partner to take care of her. If there's a partner
or special friend, that relationship stands in the shadows.

One of her beautiful, beautiful friends died with only nieces and
nephews after Memorial Day, her passing announced on Tuesday following
Memorial Day. I knew her as my librarian, and I felt a bit intimidated
around her. She had the ability to look at a hand written letter from
any era and identify it's period, and that included writing from
ancient times. She had built a large scriptorium before taking over
duties as a reference librarian. I visited her library to learn more
about the painter, Lewis Lumen Cross, and soon I had five reference
books written by a dentist, documenting the lives of every famous
resident of Spring Lake and the Tri-Cities.

She didn't want to sit by me at the film. She didn't give any reason
but I intuited she anticipated an arrival from the architecture and
design community. I am not exactly Willy Loman or Joe Six Pack when it
comes to design appreciation. At the top of the stairway, she saw me
sitting in an Eames chair, and she took my Instagram.

I have yet to see the poults walking along with their mothers. Male
turkeys are sexually polygamous, and strive to mate with more than one
female turkey. So like alpha males of the human species, it's hard for
the men to show up in all the family pictures or participate in the
walks, looking for seeds and berries. I have seen the mute swan with
their young, the mallards with their young and even the deer with
their young. A flock of twelve to twenty gobbles and scratches around
the railroad tracks on Estes, near the Knoll plant. I haven't seen the
flock since the heat took over day and night. I will keep a look for
them.

With all my biking, I feel like I have less stuff to strut, less body
fat, and that's an advantage for a man in andropause. Men experience a
Man-o-pause, but it doesn't stop a man from siring a child, so to
speak. It shows up as a condition called Low-T on television and
radio, and urologists can measure this hormone, testosterone, in the
blood. Excessive fat causes a man to produce estrogen rather than
testosterone. So portly guys such as myself can take all the DHEA we
want and we churn out the wrong hormone.

Many factors mitigate against plenty of T, and I had a late afternoon
reading of 350 ng/dl in March. My physician's assistant, who has
prescribed Cialis for daily use, has asked for a morning reading, when
even I awake with morning wood. The symptoms that indicated Cialis
began after October 2011, and probably reflect the declining
photoperiod of November. Days with bright sun where my skin enjoys
direct sun produce spunky effects. I once had dinner with a friend
experiencing menstrual cramps during dinner. Next morning, I salute
the day turgidly. I hear zinc helps too. Making use of the system help
stimulate the body chemistry.

Two women of my acquaintance have been simply polite but curt about
inviting me back to their place. I start taking the five dollar five
grams of Cialis on an empty stomach Thursday night. I text a lot more
too, our modern replacement for dancing in a cloak of Turkey feathers.

Wild Turkey is a fun bird to watch, especially when drinking Wild
Turkey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Turkey

No comments: