Bone yard, FBI

Yesterday was the one sunny day we are going to have for the week – and it was beautiful. The only issue at the farm was that Sam drug a deer carcass (the head and shoulders with the rib cage) into the front yard. It was already well seasoned; aromatic one might say. We are never sure what they will find in the open land around us; especially since the persons leasing the property are determined to kill every hog they see and leave the carcasses lay where they fall. In that respect, a deer carcass was a little surprising.

I did not take the time to bag it up because I did not get home until a little after 5 pm due to meeting we are having in the office this week. We needed to be ready to leave by 6 pm so I had very little time to get ready. This morning as I left for work I noticed that the dogs had gone back to wherever they found the skeleton and dragged the skin home with them. Mama will be very pleased.

Tonight the rains start again with our area expecting over ten inches through the remainder of the week. Chico is supposed to be a little more fortunate with only about four inches forecast by the middle of next week. Flood watches are in effect throughout north Texas. From seven years of drought to flooding on every side. At least, when all of this passes, the lakes will be full.

FBI is not normally as entertaining as it was last night. We began with the doors to the fellowship hall – which doubles as a gymnasium – open to let in the cool evening air. It saves the a/c from having to cool the entire space for the dozen of us meeting for a couple hours. At some point, shortly after our first break, and unfortunate sparrow flew into the building. For the next hour everyone in the class was very distracted.

One of the ladies tried throwing a ball at the bird – which was now in the very upper part of the building – in an attempt to get it to fly out the doors it had come in through. That was not working well but it looked fun enough that Victoria got in on the action. Of course, that only added to the distraction as the DVD continued to play.

At some point the tiny sparrow landed on the volleyball net that was still strung across the gym and Mama yelled “Victoria, he’s in the net. Somebody take off their shirt!” With the group consisting of ten women and three men, that statement brought the house down. Anyone who was trying to concentrate on the lesson being taught gave up entirely at that point.

We turned out the lights in the building hoping the bird would see the light of the open doors and make its escape but rarely will a bird take the lower path to safety. They are usually looking to get higher and I am sure the melee of people focused on it gave it sufficient fright to occlude what we thought was an open path to freedom.

What came next was even more interesting. Kaylen, our FBI leader, came back from his truck with a blowgun (I kid you not!) and began to hunt the bird with the objective of stunning the poor creature and carrying it to safety. His weapon proved more lethal than expected and very soon the sparrow was impaled by one of the darts and collapsed onto the gym floor.

The ladies were mortified. I was very impressed.