An Encounter with Spicy Foot

I don't know much of his life before we met. I don't know what became of him after our meeting. I only know of my one encounter with Spicy Foot. I only have the one memory.

At first appearance, to us and anyone else that had been around and watching, he would merely be called "a pigeon". That is, honestly, what he was. A pigeon with much too much curiosity and ambition than could possibly be good for him.

His tale may not seem all that extraordinary to you, but it is worthy of being told regardless. Because this pigeon made what could have been an ordinary moment in time, a slice out of a fairly ordinary day, into something to be remembered. For that, I want to remember him.

Spicy Foot visited us on the San Antonio Riverwalk. We had Mexican food to eat at our outdoor table, and that was all the incentive that this bird needed to pay us his visit.

At first, I, like most people in this situation - a bird that just won't leave us, or our food, alone - was annoyed. Every accidentally-dropped chip crumb spurred his endeavors on. Finding that he could press his luck by putting himself on top of our table, without any repercussions coming, gave the bird more confidence than he should rightfully have had. He even grew brave enough to walk right up and try to take rice right off the plate. Yeah, Spicy Foot was a nuisance.

But there wouldn't have been a story if he wasn't. I wouldn't have got one more interesting memory to take from that honeymoon trip if a pigeon hadn't been just a little too eager for another piece of tortilla chip. It would have been just another lunch. We would have ate. We wouldn't have gotten anything truly funny to laugh at at all.

Instead, we met a bird, made a friend. Instead, we laughed over a pigeon's antics. Instead, we saw Spicy Foot, in his food theft quest, step right into the bowl of salsa.

Shocked that he could have made such a mistake, startled by the wet and cold that was now on his foot and splattered over his body, Spicy Foot stepped out of that bowl with a new name. Seeing him peck at his spicy foot, I knew the name that would suit this bird, which I was likely to have only one knowing encounter with.

This is my encounter with Spicy Foot. I'm sure many others will share a memory, whether memorable or not, with the very same bird. They will not call him Spicy Foot; they will not know.

But I know. I know what existed at just that moment of time. A pigeon with a spicy foot.

Tortilla Bird

Triumphing to eat that tortilla despite his missing leg!

Tortilla Bird! Have you seen him? Have you heard his story?

You must. He's an American hero, this bird, a true inspiration of triumph over adversity in this crazy world we live in.

He's been all over, inspired millions, but most importantly, he's been to the outdoor seating area of a Jason's Deli and he's inspired me.

I first saw this heroic creature when I went for lunch with my brother to Jason's Deli. It was a normal day and everything was calm at the restaurant. We sat outside to enjoy the good weather and interesting scenery. I ate a baked potato. My brother had pasta. The atmosphere flowed with conversation and good times.

Then, we saw him and everything changed. It was Tortilla Bird, the one and only, doing what he does best, what he's known for, hopping around on his single foot with a piece of tortilla.

I don't know where he gets his tortilla from, but the one thing we all know is that he will eat it, no matter what it takes. No matter what, he will eat that tortilla.

His determination is what makes him a hero, as he does whatever it takes to achieve his goal of eating a tortilla no matter what obstacles may stand in his way. Not even that missing leg could stop him. We could all stand to learn something from him.

He is Tortilla Bird and he is truly an American hero.

#bird #animal #tortillabird #animalinspiration #crow #blackbird

A Day in the Life: Brendon the Turtle

I swim. I sit. I eat. This is my life as a turtle.

My day begins upon my plank, that place that is usually below water, where I can submerge myself while still taking in a steady supply of oxygen. The human begins to move and disturb me while I sit here, safe under the water without having to swim upwards for air.

That other creature, the dog, is near me when the day begins. I am not bothered by him because he is only lying there near my home. I will certainly be wary once he starts to move, and once the human moves, I know he will too.

The human does move, so I must also make my move.

I dive down into my full tank of water. Morning means swimming and getting the human to notice me so that maybe she'll also give me food.

Even though the light of the actual sun has been coming through the windows, which are quite close to me, and this light has also brightened the room, I now sense something more. My personal sun has been turned on now, and I am free to go enjoy it by climbing up to the land.

However, this is not what I want now. I swim right into the invisible wall, hoping this may bring me the food I desire from the nearby human.

But the food does not appear before me. I only see the human leave. Leave! She leaves while I swim back and forth, anxious that I will never be fed again. Dejected, I swim over to the stairway and hang off of this with my arm holding the first little rung of this ramp.

I notice when the human returns. She doesn't seem to care that I rest here starving, so I allow myself to sink to the floor and begin to check there for any food. If the human refuses to feed me, perhaps this is what I must become, such a lowly creature that I'll prowl the bottom of the tank for crumbs.

Still, I find no food here. In desperation, I begin, once again, to swim into the invisible wall.

As if not seeing how serious my situation is, the human leaves me again to starve. I can't believe it. I begin to suspect that she doesn't care at all.

As soon as I hear any small noise which might indicate her return, I give my all into swimming, into getting her attention so I might get what I need. The dog rushes into the room to see me. I think he may understand and sympathize with me. I, however, pay much more attention to the next creature to enter the room, because it is the human who enters behind him. I wonder very much if she gives any interest towards me, because it's not like that food is coming my way alone with her.

Hello? I'm the one swimming over here... Please feed me.

I swim with excitement anyway when I realize that she really is coming my way and just maybe...

Yes! Yes! It's the food! The food! The human holds my favorite thing in her hand and I want it so much that I try to swim to it, the only problem being that that invisible wall still stands. I even try to bite at the food through this barrier, but still, the invisible wall prevents me from eating, prevents me from the one thing I want. None of my efforts work.

But look! At last, the food is here, falling from above me. I have a brief moment of panic, believing her to be attacking me with the food by dropping it on me. But no. She has fed me and I am so very happy.

Yay! I eat.

I love the food so much. But then, there's too much. I decide to save some for later and get some more exercise, swimming against my invisible wall, this time, away from the human.

I move a lot of water getting my exercise. It is good exercise, so then, I need a break. I hold on to my resting plank with one arm for a moment before resuming the swimming-into-the-walls activity.

Finally, I remember that I have food and I go to finish it up. Yum.

When I finish eating all I have left, I check the floors for anything that's left there, stretching my neck out as far as I can, and I actually do find some fallen pieces of food.

When there really is no more, I decide that it's time to sunbathe for today. I go up the steps to begin sunbathing. At the top of the ramp, I reach land and the amazing heat of my sun. I stand here, paused, at the top of the ramp, just taking this heat in. I don't need to actually finish climbing to enjoy some good sun.

Eventually, I make it all the way in and go to my favorite corner of the land and that is it for the day. This is basically the entirety of how I like to spend my days.

I sit here in the sun for hours. I get completely dry here. For now, even when I hear noises and suspect the human looks at me, I feel I'm safe and don't move. Some noises, like sudden music, even get me to scramble, but I don't jump down this time. I stay. I walk, my claws scratching against the surface of land.

I only jump down, hours later, for a quick dip. I swim around for a bit, but then head right back up.

Until the human decides, this time, that she wants to eat me!

I see her looking at me and know this could be the end, so I quickly dive deep down into the water.

My waterfall is going. Wasn't it still just a moment ago?

I rest now with my arm on my plank, not believing this. I was scared into the water by intruders while I was having such a good time in the sun.

Another one comes even. I look at this one suspiciously as she comes in. Suck down to the floor, I swim into the invisible wall, gaining attention from this strange human.

While I'm here, I figure I might as well check the ground for food again. I find a fallen suction cup. I know this is not food. It smells nothing like food.

There are several humans in the room now. I just stay here on the ground, crawling along the bottom of my tank. These humans are talking and eating chicken nuggets, while I still can't find any more food here on the floor.

I come up for air. I swim to the other side of the tank. I can tell the day will be ending soon.

The other humans leave and it's only my main human here now. I hold myself between the plank and the wall, breathing. She turns off my sun, and I sink back down to the ground.

Human leaves. The dog barks, which is startling, but I recover.

I am still on the floor when she returns and I am wondering what is going on. Is it time to sleep?

It is dark now, all lights out. I swim for a while, but eventually, I sleep.

This was a fun post to write, just a fun little exercise, writing from the point of view of my pet turtle. In writing it, I really did just take a day to make a log of his every activity, which was quite enlightening. I learned that my turtle doesn't really do much, and so I almost strained to make a full read out of a full day of his life. I could've easily just done a TLDR: He swam, begged for food, ate, sunbathed, and swam some more. He's a turtle. They don't do that much, but they're still not a bad pet to have. I quite like mine, actually.

#turtle #dayinthelife #reptile #redearedslider #animals #pets