Birds, flowers, fever

After checking to make sure that Tom had survived the night, I went to the health club early. On the way back, I passed the old Ranch Riding Stable. Recently their white tom turkey has been strutting around, tail unfurled, like he is posing for a Thanksgiving Day card. The other day I noticed the white peacock sitting up on a wagon. His tail was not open but stretched out behind him like a royal train as he looked down with serene contempt on the common turkey.

When I was in Mexico as a student and there was a white peacock in the Parque Zoológico de Chapultepec between the monastery of La Sabatina and the school I was attending, I was amused to discover that the Spanish for peacock, pavo real, literally means royal turkey. It was easy for me to imagine the peacock at the Ranch sitting on a throne and lording it over the peasants below -- the common turkey, the guinea hens (such alien creatures), other chickens and geese.

Today when I was returning, I didn't see the white tom, but the royal turkey had his tail spread in glorious display. I never have a camera on such occasions, but this gives you an idea.

A little distance beyond, a shimmering indigo bunting flew alongside me for a bit, a beautiful flash of blue iridescence in the sunlight. I think I have mentioned that these birds are actually black but something about the way their feathers reflect light makes them look blue. Sort of like Superman's hair in the old comic books, I guess.

I did get my camera and take these photos of the wild iris growing in the ditch down near Birchwood Road. 

 Our house sits on a slight rise, with the land falling off from a ridge behind and to the east. The road to the east drops even more and passes through a marshy patch. That is where the irises have started appearing. They must require very damp soil. In places I see them growing in standing water in ditches. I have seen them in people's gardens in the Dells, though. I doubt that our ditches or our sandy soil, however, retain enough moisture for them. That is too bad, because they are delicately lovely and grow wild with no care, properties Tom and I applaud in flowers.

Speaking of Tom, when I got home from all this to clean up and take the Equinox in for an oil change, he reported that he was running a fever again. He had taken some meds -- the doctor has him alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen -- and his temperature had come down a bit but was still about 100. He has an appointment with his primary care doctor tomorrow and doesn't think this warrants doing anything right now other than taking his pills, drinking lots of fluid and trying not to be too cranky.