Animals

I drove to Tennessee this weekend. In the first few miles of the trip I saw a fox, a squirrel and 10 turkeys. Seriously - 10 wild turkeys walking across the road. Later in the trip I saw a sign at the side of the road, "Turkey Shoot, Saturdays at 10 a.m.". If that really is what it says, that doesn't seem like much of a challenge. The ones I saw looked slow and passive. I would feel guilty shooting a turkey. I ran this weekend and saw a dead opossum along the side of the road. Its been a stellar weekend for me for seeing wildlife.

Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey should be our national bird. Regarding Benjamin Franklin - Overrated. First, his national bird idea. Now that I've seen a turkey, I consider myself qualified to say they turke is infinitely less qualified to be our national bird than the bald eagle. I can't actually think of a worse choice. Also, almost all of his great sayings were ones he stole and wrote down. They weren't that great anyway. "Penny saved is a penny earned, an apple a day..." They aren't exactly gold. During the revolution he sweet-talked France into being on our side. That's a plus. Also he invented a few things, like a stove and bifocals, so those are pluses too. Flying a kite in a lightning storm. Just stupid. So Ben is a mixed bag. He certainly doesn't belong with people like Washington and Adams.

Speaking of George Washington, that reminds me of my 3 favorite George Carlin lines of all-time:

George Washington's brother was the uncle of our county.
The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.
E-I-E-I-O is actually a very bad misspelling of the word "farm".

I saw him in college once. Generally he's not my cup of tea, but those are all great lines.