Tom

Yesterday, we got to go with Dad on some errands which included a stop at a Supercharger to get our car charged back up to 80% without using any of our solar power … which is now charging our Powerwalls which recently got installed (finally!). There was some discussion about us being able to go with Dad instead of staying home with Mom who was on multiple Zoom calls in our absence. Why this had anything to do with us staying at home or jumping in the car with Dad was beyond me at that moment, but whose complaining about going for a drive!

On the way to the Supercharger, Dad slowed down (there were no cars behind him) and came to a halt. Zoe lost her mind and I first I wasn’t sure what was going on until I looked out the front window (and got a good whiff of a breeze which suddenly entered through the car window).

This was what I saw from the backseat…sorry I couldn’t figure a way to add the scent – it was something special.

This stupid bird not only walked RIGHT IN FRONT of our car, but then stopped and just stared at us! Zoe was all over the car barking like mad but Dad held onto her leash so she was unable to get out of the car and chase the thing.

Interesting aside, Zoe has recently figured out a way to roll down the passenger side window…I figured out the back windows long ago but all of a sudden my trick stopped working. I did see my parents fiddling with some controls that “locked” the back windows but they were unable to find one that would lock the window of the one riding Shotgun – not sure why that is but it has enabled Zoe to roll her window all the way down if our parents aren’t paying attention. Hey! Come to think of it, my windows never rolled ALL the way down. Hmmm. Seems like a conspiracy against back seat drivers!

Eventually, the thing moved on (back the way it had come) and we were able to continue with our errands, but Zoe took awhile to calm down from all her excitement.

While the car was charging we took a walk around the mall where the chargers were located. Lots of interesting sniffs at such a place…food courts, dumpsters, bushes that hide food people have tossed aside and the critters that eat the food. Since we were busy sniffing around, Dad apparently sent Mom a text saying he almost died when Zoe saw the turkey and included the above picture.

After our car was sufficiently charged we were off to do some shopping. We stopped at a few stores to pick up some items for dinner, etc…Zoe and I staying in the car with Dog Mode on…before proceeding home. On the last leg of of our drive, Mom called and said we shouldn’t come home yet as our front yard had been invaded:

As Dad took some detours, we could hear Mom talking to something – encouraging them to move along in a sweet tone, then a shriek as one of them apparently made itself really big (those turkeys are HUGE when they fluff up all their feathers!), then back to the cordial coaxing. At last, Dad was given the green light to return home as the intruders had mozied (SP) off to a neighbors yard.

Zoe and I didn’t hear what it was that was in our yard but as soon as we jumped out of the car we pulled Dad (and then Mom, who came to help Dad in case her intervention wasn’t fully successful) across the yard zig-zagging back and forth as we smelled all the places the turkeys (that was who had been in our yard) had walked. Needless to say, we were right back to being super excited and wished we weren’t on our leashes so we could chase these birds down for a special dinner.

Running around our neighborhood off leash later that evening is a story for another day, but was part of our last week or so. More soon,

Safely home,

The Tempest