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Thu, Jan 22, 2026

11:05pm EST

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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:

Annette

52 minutes ago
In response to "Lone Stranger"

Only child of single mom here.

I "fixed" my life by getting married and having three kids in four years.

1 Like

BIG BAD WOLF is Merry

about 10 hours ago
In response to "Lone Stranger"

Always something. One can be alone in a crowded room.

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Lone Stranger"

Well there were 4 of us kids we drove our mom nuts..she probably wished she'd only had one a few times!lol

I wouldn't change mine for the world. We didn't always get along but we always had each other.

I think probably being an only child is different for each one..no two kids or families are the same.

I think sometimes therapist s try to find a problem where there isn't one.

As adults it's up to each person..siblings or only..to make their lives what they want it to be.

1 Like

Brandiwyn🎶 v.2026

about 13 hours ago
In response to "Lone Stranger"

Noooo heart attacks! Invest in a snowblower... or just stay in your house until the snow melts.

1 Like

TJ says, "keep on keeping on!"

about 14 hours ago
In response to "Lone Stranger"

Coming from a larger family (there were a half dozen of us little urchins), I can't say that you missed much.

1 Like

Elisa, Snowman Stik

about 14 hours ago
In response to "Lone Stranger"

And yet, they never ask people who had siblings things like "Was it hard, not being the center of attention?" Or, "How did it feel to feud with your siblings over the inheritance?"

To be fair, when it comes to the latter question, it doesn't really need to be asked because a lot of the time people will come out and complain about it on their own. That's what happened with my father-in-law, anyway.

And I will say this. Even though I was an only child, big family gatherings were a part of my childhood, and I generally enjoyed them. I do kind of miss it in middle age and do sometimes go overboard when it comes to giving Christmas gifts as a result.

1 Like

TJ says, "keep on keeping on!"

a day ago
In response to "Myth-ing Pieces"

I enjoyed this, and unlike you, I only knew a few.

1 Like

Annette

Jan 20, 2026 at 2:12pm
In response to "Dippity Do"

Horace didn't "invent" souvenir. He maybe expanded the word's meaning from it's original use "to recollect" or "to remember" into "a token item that reminds me of something."

If this is how the article writer wants to define the beginnings of one word, he or she is clearly bad at this and everything else they wrote is now in question.

1 Like

TJ says, "keep on keeping on!"

Jan 20, 2026 at 12:12pm
In response to "Dippity Do"

In my opinion, saying that serendipity can be acquired through skill is like saying a person can plan a spontaneous event.

1 Like

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

Jan 20, 2026 at 11:48am
In response to "Dippity Do"

I've never quite understood the word. I try not to use words i dont understand..can get you in trouble.

2 Like

January 12, 2026 at 10:25am

#1105831

Diggin Up Bone

I saw this at BBC and I just had to make a comment.

'Extraordinary' Roman box made of bone found

My comment is this:

Don't these people watch horror movies? Come ON!

An "extraordinary" artefact believed to date back to the late Roman period has been unearthed in a Worcestershire town.

I mean, that's cool and all, but will it improve the sauce?

The bone box was recovered from the grave of a young woman with archaeologists believing the find could...

...fulfill the Prophecy by awakening the Great Old Ones to purge the land.

Okay, seriously, the article is light on details, but has a picture, and the find really is pretty interesting.

Short entry today because I don't really have a lot else to say about it, but I feel like what I did have to say was important.

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