Cold turkeys

We interrupt our narrative of a warm, sunny Florida vacation to update you on current conditions in Illinois. Valentine’s Day dawned at a brisk 12 degrees below zero. On the (literally) bright side, it was sunny and windless, so not as bitching cold as it might have been.

By afternoon, it had warmed to 12 degrees above zero. I was surprised to see the wild turkeys by our kitchen window. They have been hanging around beneath Hilda’s bird feeder, eating the seeds that the smaller bird toss to the ground. While we saw them in groups of 4 earlier, they are now traveling in a flock of 8 or 9. Terry has observed that the turkeys like to follow bird seed with grass, which they get by scratching the snow away.

Some were grazing under the feeder.

Turkeys beneath my (empty) bird feeder

Others worked under the deck.

Grazing under the deck

Periodically, they rested with their head tucked as far as possible into their feathers. This is a true cold turkey. When I lived in North Dakota, I marveled that turkeys could survive the extreme cold weather with their little bald heads. Why didn’t their brains freeze? Now I know.

Cold turkey

I got to wondering about the idiom “cold turkey.” According to Merriam-Webster.com, it’s a fairly new phrase, dating to 1910, when it appeared in print referring to an outright loss of money. In 1920, “cold turkey” was used to mean straight talk. That use might have come from combining “cold” meaning straightforward or unemotional with “talk turkey”, a phrase from the 1800’s, meaning getting right to the point. Over time, “cold turkey” was used to refer to quitting some addictive substance abruptly, possibly because withdrawal symptoms may include cold, clammy skin reminiscent of a refrigerated turkey. Sounds dreadful.

Even though it was a relatively balmy 17 degrees above zero this morning, it was cloudy and blustery. These are the days that make February (and January and March) dreary. Even though I am inside, the sound of the howling wind makes me cold. Will spring ever come?