Random Act of Metaphor: Return of the Turkey Vulture

Hmmm, will the lessonstick this time?

Yesterday did not feelmuch like one day shy of May. It was cold, grey and blustery. But I went for myhalf hour, after work walk wearing gloves and a toque because it is part of my stay sane during lockdown routine. Weall have our coping mechanisms.

As I was rounding thecorner to my townhouse complex, I saw a Turkey Vulture soaring overhead – anunusual sight in an urban area. I reflected that hawks and vultures coast onwind thermals during migration to conserve energy. The high winds may haveknocked it off course.

Memory then kicked inand reminded me that I had sighted a Turkey Vulture in the same spot severalyears ago around the same time of year. I even wrote a Random Act of Metaphor post about it. I checked my blog records anddetermined it was four years ago on a blustery Friday although three weeksearlier in the month. Quite a coincidence, all things considered.

I went online andlearned that Turkey Vultures can live for twenty years. I could not help butponder the possibility, however unlikely, that it was the same one I saw backin 2017. And if it was, was it looking down at me and thinking: Damn, I think I saw that human when I gotblown over this neighbourhood four years ago. What are the odds?

In my blog post from2017, I wrote:

Itoccurred to me that this Turkey Vulture and I had a lot in common. Life wasknocking us around and testing our character. It was tempting to throw up ourhands (or our wings, as the case may be) and surrender. But there was a lessonto be learned – the importance of staying the course when events seemed to beconspiring against us.

And isn’t that asrelevant today, if not more so, than it was four years ago?

The return of the TurkeyVulture – a random act of metaphor to reteach me a lesson I did not learn wellenough the first time.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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