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Wed, Jul 2, 2025

9:57pm EDT

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Carrion Luggage

by Robert Waltz

Rated: 18+ · Book · Opinion · #2336646

Items to fit into your overhead compartment

Carrion Luggage

Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.

This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.

It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.

It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."

I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Wordsmitty ✍️

14 minutes ago
In response to "Lawn Forcement"

There's a TV show called "Kill Your Lawn" that goes around converting peoples "yards" to more actual environment for the area. I couldn't find a link to it except on IMDB, if you're interested.

1 Like

tj wanderlust-words-in-motion

about 6 hours ago
In response to "Lawn Forcement"

And this is why I love living in the country with few neighbors to complain about what I do or don't do with my lawn.

1 Like

🌖 HuntersMoon

about 11 hours ago
In response to "Lawn Forcement"

Just moved into a condo (with HOA) and I'll say I'm impressed. There's a real diversity of plants and grasses tucked into and around all the concrete. There's no shortage of birds and bugs.

. Different country, different attitude I guess.

2 Like

Robert Waltz

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Lawn Forcement"

Stik to My Own Beat

yes, condo associations can be different. Given the ownership structure, you pretty much need one there, if only to handle building maintenance. I was specifically referring to suburban neighborhood HOAs, because the suburbs are where they have the lawn fetish.

1 Like

Stik to My Own Beat

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Lawn Forcement"

Living in a condo means I have to deal with an HOA. That said, the HOA is the one that decided to plant pollinators in the courtyard. I guess urban HOAs can be more chill than their suburban counterparts.

3 Like

🌖 HuntersMoon

a day ago
In response to "Rococo's"

Your point (journalistic intention) eludes me today. Rococo is an ornate and theatrical style of art and architecture. It's French. You discuss Italian food and mid-Virginia architecture.

1 Like

🌖 HuntersMoon

Jun 29, 2025 at 9:54am
In response to "It's On the House"

I hope there are staff quarters. No way my wife would ever consent to cleaning a place like that.

1 Like

🌖 HuntersMoon

Jun 28, 2025 at 11:45am
In response to "Not Apparent"

My wife became pregnant 2 weeks before I left for Vietnam... and 2 weeks after I returned.

I took matters into my own hands (no, that's not a deliberate pun

) and solved 2 problems. She wouldn't get pregnant again and I'd know if she was unfaithful.

I'm with JACE. Keep your nose (again, no deliberate pun) out of my business.

2 Like

JACE

Jun 28, 2025 at 11:17am
In response to "Not Apparent"

Interestingly, before my wife and I decided to start our family, we had the discussion about how many children we wanted--I wanted two, she (coming from a large family) wanted six. We wound up with four.

My point is that both of us were raised Catholic and I was 'dressed down' by our priest for wanting to purposely limit our family size. Approaching the birth of our fourth, however, my wife decided this was enough. She (we) had a devil of a time getting our priest to 'sign off' on birth control. So, she took care of that issue while still in the hospital after giving birth.

We were a bit disillusioned with the Catholic church's views about family by that time.

Keep your nose out of our business so long as we hurt noBODY or society in general.

3 Like

Stik to My Own Beat

Jun 28, 2025 at 10:14am
In response to "Not Apparent"

in a world that seems increasingly and bafflingly pronatalist

It's not baffling if you are aware of both population studies and the role of dominionism in Evangelical Christianity. While both pro-capitalist supporters of having many children and the dominionist ideology have been building up over the last 20 years or so, this is the first time they've been anywhere near the social controls at the same time. They both support large families for different reasons (money and racism, respectively) and thus have a loose alliance right now. I think one of the best things for people to do to combat this is to pay close attention to stories from people who have managed to leave either space. I can think of a few books off the top of my head that cover this subject: A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings, Pink-Pilled: Women and the Far Right by Lois Shearing, and Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. Aside from depicting personal experiences within these movements, there is also exploration of how the structures themselves work. We need that understanding in order to push back and ultimately drain the motivation for people to latch onto these ideas.

In a similar vein, another important action to take is to help boys and young men stay out of those traps in the first place. Mentorships (whether participating in or providing funding for) can help raise a generation of men who are willing to stand up to pronatalism and the movements that promote this idea. Unlike feminist movements of the 60s and 70s, we can't afford to leave (young) men behind at a time like this. If we do, well, they're gonna gravitate to those who make them feel welcome. Unfortunately, the groups most likely to do that are the ones that are embracing pronatalism for (too) many reasons.

3 Like

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