Flannels and Funnels

Tank tops have been stored for the winter.  Denim work shirts have been the order of the day, but needed a jacket morning and evening.  I needed something better for the transition and so pulled a flannel shirt out of the closet.  Perfect.  No jacket needed on a crisp fall morning.  Coutures are missing a bet by not designing flannel shirts for women, but they are only found in the men's department.  There is something so comfy-cozy, like a hug, when slipping into soft, well-washed flannel.  Being one of the "use it up, wear it out" generation, most of my daily wardrobe, such as it is, consists of Steve's tee-shirts, shirts, and socks.  He was the clothes horse of the family.  Bibbies, turtlenecks, and shoes are my own.  Deb and Craig gift me with anything dress-up, so my pretty tops are all from them.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to get to the back of the closet where I'd hung the flannel shirts.  I'm moving them all to the front for fall.  Flannel shouldn't be just for the guys.

I was enjoying the feel of the shirt and thinking about the turkeys that came running when I called, "Turk, turk, turk," as I threw down their seed and the four deer standing in the orchard behind the chicken pens, so I was startled by the vultures.  There were vultures everywhere, in the trees, on the posts, and fifty or so pedestrians just standing around on the ground.  They rose in a black cloud as I approached, some moving to other trees and some settling back down a bit farther off.  I'm certainly used to seeing these birds on the property, but never in such numbers so close.  It wasn't until I was down in the barn that the birds, evidently waiting for stragglers to arrive, took off in funnel formation and slowly drifted off to the east.  It was a secondary migration group of hundreds.  The maintenance crew resumed their position on the posts around the pen, wings spread to the sun.  I've read that vultures seem to like the company of humans and will "adopt" a homestead as their own.  Well, I like them, too, and am pleased these elegant birds have chosen Farview to call home.