As we roll into the holiday season, I’m always reminded of the great turkey incident that occurred in the early 90’s in rural Oktibbeha County.
In those days, the wildlife along Big Creek Road kept their heads on a constant swivel at this time of year, for the schools, along with work, were off for the holidays, and the uncles and cousins of our family stayed in the woods from dusk ‘til dawn, trying to get that trophy buck. And while it was officially only buck season, no animal walking the earth or flying God’s blue sky was safe. These were the mean streets of rural Mississippi.
On this particular day, Uncle Jon was preparing to ‘release the hounds’, in the hopes that they’d run every deer within a mile past the cousins and uncles who were strategically placed along the way. Just as he was about to get out, a farmer who raised ostriches several miles away, pulled up and said he had an ostrich escape his pen and had no luck finding it. He then asked Uncle Jon if he’d keep an eye out for it…and please don’t kill it. Which was an extremely important request, because on Big Creek Road, there was a 99.9% chance that an oversized sasquatch bird running through those woods would be rained upon by a healthy dose of swear words and bullets.
Uncle Jon immediately hit the woods to warn the others of the runaway ostrich.
Along this stretch of road, a large part of the family lived within a mile from each other. On this day, Aunt Jenna was minding her home, preparing food for the upcoming holiday feast, and just living life. She was a simple widowed lady that enjoyed the comforts of her surroundings. If it wasn’t right there on Big Creek Road, she didn’t need it.
As it was nearing lunch, she knew that all the hunters would be coming out of the woods, and their convoy would be passing through at any moment. She’d better trek across the road to the mailbox and get her mail.
Not having any luck that morning, the uncles and cousins all gathered at their truck, set the time and area to meet again, and headed home for a bite to eat.
As Uncle Jon made his way down the curvy dirt road to his home, he neared Aunt Jenna’s home, which was right on top of the nearby hill. After topping it, he found her standing at the side of the road, her mouth agape as if she had seen a ghost, and her mail strewn all over the dusty roadway.
Not wanting to startle her any worse, he slowly pulled next to the frightened auntie and asked, “Jenna…. are you ok?”
She then snapped out of her trance, slowly turned her head, and said, “I just saw the biggest ___ turkey I’ve ever seen….and it ran that way!
