Mirrors and Roadkill

So yeah, my dad. He thinks outside the box. Way outside the box...

He and my mom live in the country, way out in the country, in upstate New York.

We visited them this week...

I noticed that there's a mirror up in a tree, way up in a tree, visible through a window proximal to his computer desk.

"What's the deal with the mirror?" I asked my mom.

"This spring there was a robin," she explained, "who liked to perch on that branch..." she pointed to a limb of the sugar maple which had been trimmed off to keep it from growing too close to the house, "... and he like to puff himself up and sing like he was king of the world. So your dad nailed that mirror up there to provide him with a little competition. Thereafter, the proud bird had to battle for supremacy of his realm, a sight which your father found most entertaining. Same battle occured with a titmouse who fancied the perch, and later a bluebird. Wonderful thing with the bluebird, as it gave us a chance to get a close look at it..."

Who needs TV?

And then...

"Remember that restaurant called 'The Roadkill Cafe' that you took us to once?" my dad asked me, "Well," he laughed, "I took a page from their book last week..."

This ought to be good, I thought to myself.

"Your mom came in from her morning walk and said, 'There's a big bird out there. Next to the garden.' so I went to check it out. It happened to be a grouse, an unfortunate bird which had met its demise after being struck by a car. It had not been long dead- I could feel that it's body was still warm." he said. "I had always wanted to try grouse," he continued, "so I dressed it right then and there."

"You mean you ate it?" I asked.

"Yes." he said, "We cooked it in the pressure cooker, because I suspected that the meat would be rather tough."

"How was it? Did it taste good?"

"The meat was a little tough," he said, "But the broth was very flavorful."

Yay dad.