Turkey Lurky

Well, today was an adventure. At 10:00 a.m. writer Rachel Frankford and I headed to a farm about 2 1/2 hours outside the city to see what happens to turkeys before they end up all nice and glazed on a table at Thanksgiving. It was my first official photo assignment and I was ready to get into the gunk if I had to in order to get a few printworthy shots.

We arrived in all the drizzle-bound fall glory of the afternoon and trudged around the grounds of the farm following the sound of very loud cooing and squawking.

There were about 2,000 turkeys in the pen that we found. We met with Farmer Strock and got to work seeing all the dirty deeds involved in the process of making a bird go from squawker to dead meat.

Lets just say it's a job that is definitely a candidate for "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel. There was plenty of blood, it was bright flourescent magenta, and lots of piles of feathers, heads and feet. MMM, are you hungry yet?

The day was a million times more enjoyable thanks to the wonderful men of the evangelical drug rehab program who were working on Strock Farms helping with the Thanksgiving rush for the week. They were some of the most respectful and kind men I have met in a long time and I thank them for their laughter and their positive attitudes and mostly for not discounting Rachel or myself as silly girls who couldn't handle the task at hand.

The drive home was hell. I was driving and we got lost---but for once it wasn't my fault---it was just bad directions c/o Mapquest. We got lost a second time due to the rain/traffic/darkness---we missed an exit and ended up in BFE northeast Philly/Abington. Luckily Rachel's father was able to lead us back into the city. I was about an hour late for my job at the theatre but someone covered for me so all was fine.

Tomorrow I have two job interviews. Both are receptionist positions at places that would allow me to go home at night and not feel like I was working for the man, if you will. One is at a dance studio and the other is at a Macintosh Speciality/consulting locally-owned business. Pray for me, I could really use the full-time check that accompanies both positions (and the benefits as well!).