Wild Goose Chase

It was a brilliant idea. Or it would have been. We were wanting to do something creative this Valentines Day for a set of Floridian grandparents who abandon us for sunnier climes each autumn and return in the spring when the weather here is more to their liking. Snowbirds. A few days before the holiday we were on our way home from piano lessons and passed a field covered with at least a thousand large, white snow geese making a migratory pit stop. We hurried home for the camera, quickly cut out red paper hearts for the boys to hold up in front of the massive flock. I would snap the clever pose and post it with the caption "We Love Snowbirds!". Problem. In the brief time that it took us to fetch our props, the entire bunch of birds vanished. Gone. I'm talking about a thousand birds or more. We drove around thinking they must be SOMEWHERE nearby, but not a snow goose was to be found. What we did find was a pitiful scraggly flock of winter starved turkeys. If you squint, you can see that a couple of them were even attempting to mate. No snowbirds, just passionate turkeys. We tried.

We Love Snowbirds!