Disclaimer: Fair warning, in advance, this is a long post. Put on your reading glasses!
Mushroom Hunting
On Father's Day my pops announced that we'd be driving out to the middle of nowhere to mushroom hunt and to launch the model rocket I got for my mom on Mother's Day.
We ventured out to an area with wild mushrooms galore, which also happens to be covered in stickers. The family pup, Ganymede, even without the protection of ankle socks, diligently scoured the field for edible mushrooms.
On our way out we noticed that the sky was full of obese seagulls. Why were there so many seagulls, frantically swarming about in this little portion of the sky? The question was swiftly answered as we turned the corner to park and, low and behold, there stood a massive warehouse with HOSTESS plastered along the side. The entire roof of the warehouse and the dumpster were full of Twinkie and stuffed seagulls. I've never seen a dumpster full of so many birds. My family ran from the car towards the railroad tracks that lead out to a field full of yummy button mushrooms. Somehow, miraculously, we got out fallen-from-sky-poop-free.
We found a whole bunch of mushrooms. Given the large quantity of stickers, I ended up scooping Gany up and carrying him out. Then my brother and I carefully plucked at his paws until they were functional, sticker-free pads.
Stop! Picture time!
Tooele and Taco Bell
Then off we went, venturing forth towards the middle of nowhere, which entailed passing through a small Utah town called Tooele.
According to Wikipedia,
Ordering vegan at a Taco Bell in Tooele proved to be a bit tricky, especially when I asked for a taco "with beans instead of the meat" and "no cheese or sour cream, just add whatever veggies you have. Lettuce, tomato, onion?" The poor employee struggled a bit, but inputted something that ended up costing me $3 more than I'd be charged in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I didn't say anything, but as I reached into my wallet to grab the big bucks, her young (teenage, I'm guessing) manager stepped in. "What in the heck? This is one expensive taco! You charged this guy $3 more than you should have! An charged him for meat!", to which the employee replied, "I did not charge him for meat! I wasn't tryin' to overcharge him. I was just adding on the veggies and beans and whatnot!", "Yeah, but ya charged him for meat! This looks like a veggie taco to me! Do the beans instead-a-meat!"
Meanwhile, as they bantered back and forth about my order using masculine pronouns galore, a guy that appeared to be in his late teens stared at me the entire time. My dad and I both noticed him and it was uncomfortable.
After ordering, my family and I sat to eat and the manager darted over before I even had a chance to take my first bite. She asked to look at my tattoos, and what they mean. And after a while, she exclaimed that she couldn't wait to move to the "big city" of Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake? A big city?
At some point in our brief enthused-by-the-big-city conversation, she mentioned that Tooele was once #1 in the nation for highest pregnancy rates. To which the girl who rang me up chimed in, "But we're #2 now. We just got passed up.", by who, I can't recall, but the manager than joked, "We need to catch up pronto!", then, to her co-worker and while motioning towards me, "I bet he could help you out with that!"
WHAT?
Stranded Racing Pigeon
My family and I then resumed our journey to the middle of nowhere, shot off our rocket, and let Gany run around and roll in puddles. Then, on our way back, came across a bright white pigeon standing in the middle of the small, two-lane paved road.
Something was obviously amiss, so we pulled over to discover that this little white pigeon was standing guard over a dead friend of his. Both had identification bands on their legs. As my pops approached the little white guy, he hopped away. It was obvious that he had an injured wing and that he was also domestic. There was no way he'd survive the night without water, food, or the ability to fly out in the middle of a desert. We decided to scoop him up and take him to my place where we could look up his identification info online and get him back to his peoples.
As I held him, I noticed that he also had an serious injury on his head - to the point that one eye had been swollen over and reddish goop oozed out. I had no idea how bad his injuries were, but it didn't look good.
When we got back to the Big City, we discovered that Louie had been banded in 2003. He was a racing pigeon! My pops found his person's info in a racing pigeon database and sent him an e-mail and also left a voice message.
Our cute pigeon friend spent the night in Gany's dog crate (minus Gany), near water and some rat food (it was the closest to pigeon food I had). I held a mini ice pack to his head to help reduce the swelling. He was entirely non-responsive, eyes shut. I had no idea if he'd survive the night.
The next morning, as I descended the stairs, I felt anxious about what awaited me in the dog crate. Would he be dead? Worse than he was the night prior? Suffering? And there he was, wide awake!
The swelling on his head had gone down to the extent that his little eye was now visible. He made little pigeon noises and hopped about, pecking at the rat food. Evidence of water consumption floated around in the water dish.
I called his person, who answered and told me, "Oh, that bird. I gave it to a feller a few years back. Does its wing still work?" I told him that it was either injured or broken. "Hmm, that's not good. Anyway, here's his info..." When I called this guy, a woman answered and asked the same question, "Does its wing work?... hmm, that's not good. Well, my husband gets home in a couple hours. I'll have him call you.", and when he called, "It's wing doesn't work? Huh. Well, I don't want it. Do what ya want with it."
Wow. How could someone not bond with their cute little companion after 4 or so years? It's astounding to me. And sad.
Given that I can't provide an ideal home to a little white pigeon, I called around to various sanctuaries and rescues. No one wanted a pigeon.
Fortunately, after some digging around and through some animal loving connections, a pigeon lover popped up and took him in yesterday! She's so sweet and amazing and got a little chicken coop all setup for him. When he hopped into it, he immediately puffed up and strutted around. Perched. Stared at us with a tilted head. His new pigeon-knowledgeable guardian noticed that his wings had been clipped, and commented that he couldn't have "flown too far. It would be too exhausting having them clipped like that..."
His new person updated her Facebook status yesterday to say, "---- is housing the most beautiful pigeon in the world in her backyard chicken coop."
So cute. And last night, "Louie the Most Beautiful Pigeon in the World has tucked himself in for the night. Sweet dreams, lovely Louie!"
Louie is one lucky, adorable chump.
Mushroom Hunting
On Father's Day my pops announced that we'd be driving out to the middle of nowhere to mushroom hunt and to launch the model rocket I got for my mom on Mother's Day.
We ventured out to an area with wild mushrooms galore, which also happens to be covered in stickers. The family pup, Ganymede, even without the protection of ankle socks, diligently scoured the field for edible mushrooms.
On our way out we noticed that the sky was full of obese seagulls. Why were there so many seagulls, frantically swarming about in this little portion of the sky? The question was swiftly answered as we turned the corner to park and, low and behold, there stood a massive warehouse with HOSTESS plastered along the side. The entire roof of the warehouse and the dumpster were full of Twinkie and stuffed seagulls. I've never seen a dumpster full of so many birds. My family ran from the car towards the railroad tracks that lead out to a field full of yummy button mushrooms. Somehow, miraculously, we got out fallen-from-sky-poop-free.
We found a whole bunch of mushrooms. Given the large quantity of stickers, I ended up scooping Gany up and carrying him out. Then my brother and I carefully plucked at his paws until they were functional, sticker-free pads.
Stop! Picture time!
Tooele and Taco Bell
Then off we went, venturing forth towards the middle of nowhere, which entailed passing through a small Utah town called Tooele.
According to Wikipedia,
Tooele is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah... The city is well known for Tooele Army Depot, privately-owned waste-disposal facilities west of Tooele Valley, and TOCDF, a government-owned chemical weapons incinerator south of Tooele Valley.Also, the
major private employer in the area is Kennecott Utah Copper which operates the Kennecott Bingham Copper Mine, the world's largest open-pit excavation mine on the other side of the Oquirrh Mountains from Tooele's location.Yup. Out of hungry desperation, we stopped at Taco Bell - seemingly one of the only places open on a Sunday in Tooele.
Ordering vegan at a Taco Bell in Tooele proved to be a bit tricky, especially when I asked for a taco "with beans instead of the meat" and "no cheese or sour cream, just add whatever veggies you have. Lettuce, tomato, onion?" The poor employee struggled a bit, but inputted something that ended up costing me $3 more than I'd be charged in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I didn't say anything, but as I reached into my wallet to grab the big bucks, her young (teenage, I'm guessing) manager stepped in. "What in the heck? This is one expensive taco! You charged this guy $3 more than you should have! An charged him for meat!", to which the employee replied, "I did not charge him for meat! I wasn't tryin' to overcharge him. I was just adding on the veggies and beans and whatnot!", "Yeah, but ya charged him for meat! This looks like a veggie taco to me! Do the beans instead-a-meat!"
Meanwhile, as they bantered back and forth about my order using masculine pronouns galore, a guy that appeared to be in his late teens stared at me the entire time. My dad and I both noticed him and it was uncomfortable.
After ordering, my family and I sat to eat and the manager darted over before I even had a chance to take my first bite. She asked to look at my tattoos, and what they mean. And after a while, she exclaimed that she couldn't wait to move to the "big city" of Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake? A big city?
At some point in our brief enthused-by-the-big-city conversation, she mentioned that Tooele was once #1 in the nation for highest pregnancy rates. To which the girl who rang me up chimed in, "But we're #2 now. We just got passed up.", by who, I can't recall, but the manager than joked, "We need to catch up pronto!", then, to her co-worker and while motioning towards me, "I bet he could help you out with that!"
WHAT?
Stranded Racing Pigeon
My family and I then resumed our journey to the middle of nowhere, shot off our rocket, and let Gany run around and roll in puddles. Then, on our way back, came across a bright white pigeon standing in the middle of the small, two-lane paved road.
Something was obviously amiss, so we pulled over to discover that this little white pigeon was standing guard over a dead friend of his. Both had identification bands on their legs. As my pops approached the little white guy, he hopped away. It was obvious that he had an injured wing and that he was also domestic. There was no way he'd survive the night without water, food, or the ability to fly out in the middle of a desert. We decided to scoop him up and take him to my place where we could look up his identification info online and get him back to his peoples.
As I held him, I noticed that he also had an serious injury on his head - to the point that one eye had been swollen over and reddish goop oozed out. I had no idea how bad his injuries were, but it didn't look good.
When we got back to the Big City, we discovered that Louie had been banded in 2003. He was a racing pigeon! My pops found his person's info in a racing pigeon database and sent him an e-mail and also left a voice message.
Our cute pigeon friend spent the night in Gany's dog crate (minus Gany), near water and some rat food (it was the closest to pigeon food I had). I held a mini ice pack to his head to help reduce the swelling. He was entirely non-responsive, eyes shut. I had no idea if he'd survive the night.
The next morning, as I descended the stairs, I felt anxious about what awaited me in the dog crate. Would he be dead? Worse than he was the night prior? Suffering? And there he was, wide awake!
The swelling on his head had gone down to the extent that his little eye was now visible. He made little pigeon noises and hopped about, pecking at the rat food. Evidence of water consumption floated around in the water dish.
I called his person, who answered and told me, "Oh, that bird. I gave it to a feller a few years back. Does its wing still work?" I told him that it was either injured or broken. "Hmm, that's not good. Anyway, here's his info..." When I called this guy, a woman answered and asked the same question, "Does its wing work?... hmm, that's not good. Well, my husband gets home in a couple hours. I'll have him call you.", and when he called, "It's wing doesn't work? Huh. Well, I don't want it. Do what ya want with it."
Wow. How could someone not bond with their cute little companion after 4 or so years? It's astounding to me. And sad.
Given that I can't provide an ideal home to a little white pigeon, I called around to various sanctuaries and rescues. No one wanted a pigeon.
Fortunately, after some digging around and through some animal loving connections, a pigeon lover popped up and took him in yesterday! She's so sweet and amazing and got a little chicken coop all setup for him. When he hopped into it, he immediately puffed up and strutted around. Perched. Stared at us with a tilted head. His new pigeon-knowledgeable guardian noticed that his wings had been clipped, and commented that he couldn't have "flown too far. It would be too exhausting having them clipped like that..."
His new person updated her Facebook status yesterday to say, "---- is housing the most beautiful pigeon in the world in her backyard chicken coop."
So cute. And last night, "Louie the Most Beautiful Pigeon in the World has tucked himself in for the night. Sweet dreams, lovely Louie!"
Louie is one lucky, adorable chump.
If your friend needs advice or help with Louie the pigeon, or wants to swap stories, or find out tips on pigeons, check out pigeon-life.net.
ReplyDeleteLarry
Thank you for the resource Larry :)
ReplyDeleteYou're a good person, Mel.
ReplyDelete