I saw it the instant I came out the front door of my workplace. There is a small parking lot in front of our building adjacent to a 25 miles/hr road. It was moving about lazily in the middle of the road in slow turkey waddle. What was it doing there, I mused. A wild one, perhaps. Since I work close to the ocean, I get my regular dose of ducks tapping on our glass doors, seagulls crying in the distance…hawks (hawks?) hovering up above. It was a turkey alright, even if my close encounters with a whole turkey are limited so far to #1) the zoo when I was 5 years old #2) Thanksgiving dinners – the turkey sandwiches and ground turkey I use a lot in lieu of beef don’t count. Maybe it’s just my imagination, this one almost had a personality. "He/She/It" almost had a name. ALMOST HAD.

        I went straight to my car, fumbled for my phone in my purse (shucks, I thought I left it again) and then pulled right off the lot and unto the road. To my shock, when I was almost at that part where the turkey was, I saw instead some bloody turkey pieces...mashed and unidentifiable turkey parts. I’ll spare you the other gory details. It bothered me like hell, like a heavy dark cloud was cast upon me and followed me. At home, hubby gave a loud “What? Who did what!?! What the f! What an irresponsible son of a b! What was he thinking?” – it could make tree-huggers and animal rights activitists grimly jealous.

         Poor turkey. One moment he was lounging about oblivious to his impending demise, 5 minutes elapse and he's a random roadkill. It seemed more like a gruesome murder to me, if there is a difference at all. Did he have parents? Did he have a spouse? Did he have kids? Uhm...Grandkids? Hahahaha. Is there turkey heaven? or turkey hell?  LOL. Is someone gonna miss him? What was he doing there? What was he thinking? Did he have dreams? Did he have goals? Did he have a list of things to achieve before he dies? A turkey's brain is about the size of a walnut and it is said that is has fewer brain cells than a cockroach. So the tragedy he met probably didn’t mean much. They are somehow predestined to be on someone's dinner plate  anyway (sorry, vegans).  But the scarier part of it was…the incident jolting me to the eventuality and randomness of mortality. It could have been our pet dog. It could have been my neighbor. It could have been someone close. It could have been me. 

         I didn't mean to ride the hype of the now cliche "Bucket List" when I started to write this. Oh the ever-proverbial list of things one wants to do before he kicks the bucket!    Maybe it matters. Maybe it doesn't. It's your choice. It depends on how you see the world and life itself. I'm just creeped out by the turkey's misfortune.I do have a bucket list but I prefer to call it dreamlist...I wrote one before the movie came out (click to see my old list). Yes, it keeps growing. And yes, Tiger Woods is still part of it and I'm moving closer and closer to that one. Woohoo!

        But I believe that everyone's list should include: 1) Forgive ALL those who wronged you, especially those who didn't really mean to; 2) Say sorry to those you've hurt; 3) Thank the people who did a lot for you (even the smallest things) throughout your life; and THIS ONE SHOULD TOP THE LIST: 4) Tell the people who mean very much to you that you love them. Now. Really.