Category: Uncategorized

A Brief Explanation & Road Trip Wrap Up

On By Joseph McMahonIn Uncategorized1 Comment

 

 

 

I know it’s been over a week with no updates and a sudden stop to the story of my road trip up north. I apologize for this as I’m sure some of you were genuinely interested in my weird travels and writings. None of this is without reason. Last Sunday (the 24th), my two Dominique hens killed Amelia, the red and grey jungle fowl hybrid. It was simply awful and I have had a hard time looking at the photos from the trip, especially the section yet to be covered, as many of them feature her.

Adding to my frustrations is the heat wave we are currently experiencing in Southeast Michigan, with temperatures tickling 100 degrees F (depending on who and when you ask, it may well be OVER 100) and my air conditioning deciding to quit, because of course. Luckily, with the help of a friend, we were able to diagnose the problems (a faulty electric motor, which then blew a fuse) and order the needed part. It doesn’t arrive until Tuesday, but having something to look forward to and the fun (my friend who helped, Jan, is from Poland and always has something interesting to say) of screwing around with the thing has taken a lot of the sting (as I write this, it’s 88 degrees IN MY HOUSE) out of the situation.

I have also been knee-deep in my first foray into e-commerce, a sports novelty decal I am becoming increasingly unsure will ever see the light of day.

Anyhow, thanks for sticking around and (barring any further disasters!) I will resume bringing you regular, interesting content.

And now for the thrilling conclusion of the Road Trip Saga. I was planning on breaking this up into two posts but let’s just get it over with so we can all move on with our lives. THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG ONE.

Since it’s been so long, I’ll place the recap links here instead of at the bottom:

One last note: I am STILL fiddling with formats and writing style, thanks for putting up with the nonstop assault on your eyeballs!

Saturday Afternoon

Embarking from the Knotty Pine, we drove south, toward and sort of around Escanaba, ending up in Hannahville, an Indian reservation with a rather large casino, the Island Resort and Casino.

It was raining off and on when we arrived and the pow wow, originally scheduled to be held outdoors, had been moved into the high school, deeper within the reservation. I admittedly didn’t grab the greatest pictures of all this, as I was doing my best to:

A. Be respectful (I’m not a big fan of taking shots of people’s faces without their permission and am unsure of pow wow etiquette)

B. Take in the sights myself

The pow wow mainly consisted of various categories of dance and dance competitions, accompanied by authentic singing/chanting/drumming provided by the Northern Cree Singers, a tribal group from Canada. I haven’t the foggiest clue what they sing about, but they have a great passion and talent for it. From what I understand, the drumming and singing not only go with the dancing, but, in fact, dictate it, providing the dancers with cues and instructions via the melody and rhythms of the song.

There was delicious food served in the cafeteria and I chose what is known as an Indian Taco:

IMG_20180616_1544129.jpg
The Indian Taco: A combination of standard taco ingredients served atop a piece of frybread.

 

After some time (an hour or so, I don’t know), it was announced the weather had cleared and the pow wow would reconvene outside, at the traditional pow wow grounds/camp site.

While the pow wow was migrating, we took the opportunity to tour the Potawatomi Heritage Center, a turtle-shaped (if you were to look at it from above) museum which relates the history of both the Potawatomi peoples and Hannahville. Also housed within this turtle is a truly weird and wonderful exhibit which showcases Michigan copper and presents alternative history hypotheses, none of which I can remember, but I can assure you they range from the reasonable to “Um, okay?”

Unfortunately, I was unable to grab any pictures while inside. I did, however, partake of (read: stuffed face at) a lunch buffet, which had been kindly laid out as part of an open house by the Heritage Center staff, coinciding with the pow wow, which nobody bothered to show up for! How rude! I had to sit there and eat free cheese, crackers, cold cuts and pineapple all by myself! The horror of it all. I made such a huge sandwich I got the meat sweats and had to sit down for a half hour while my friends were……you know what, I don’t know what they were doing. I think they were being given a way beyond normal hands-on tour and meeting the director of the Center/tribe, but I was off somewhere in meat land.

After this excursion into the unknown reaches of lunch meat, I was scooped up, poured into the car and driven over to the outdoor pow wow grounds.

IMG_20180616_1849240.jpg

Here, the same things which were going on in the school gym went on………….outside! There was a pass-in-review of sorts, a salute to the armed forces and LOTS of dancing. Some of these people (unsurprisingly, they were the same dancers who walked away with top honors) danced for an hour STRAIGHT. It was amazing to see. Also impressive was the level of detail and craftsmanship shown in the performer’s regalia (costumes or outfits).

Once again, I didn’t get the greatest shots here, looking to protect people’s privacy and not be a jackass.

I also sampled more frybread. Frybread is interesting in and of itself, given it’s history, so I’ll cover it briefly. Frybread is a traditional food at pow wows, festivals and even in native people’s homes. Frybread originated in the mid-19th century, when the Navajo and other peoples were moved onto reservations. The tribes were given flour, sugar, salt and lard as rations and frybread was what they could come up with to nourish themselves, both on the journey to, and upon arrival at, the reservations. I will delve no further into the sociopolitical implications of frybread.

After the pow wow wound down, we set up camp for the night. I did not take any pictures of our tent or campsite, as I didn’t even think of it because we were having too much fun entertaining our neighbors with our weird jungle fowl and listening to an elder’s tales and opinions on a wide array of topics.

Sunday

Continue reading “A Brief Explanation & Road Trip Wrap Up” →

Bird Visit Extravaganza!

On By Joseph McMahonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today, my friend brought his Junglefowl over to visit. I present scenes from this visit, with captions and commentary. These birds are Amelia’s (my Junglefowl, who I thought was a Red, but turns out to be a cross between a Red and a Grey!) half-brother, Charlie and half-sister, Henrietta.

When John arrived, we put his birds in the tub Amelia stays in when I’m not around so they could say hello while we ate breakfast.

Unleashed outside, Amelia (red and grey in the foreground), Charlie (red, back right) and Henrietta (grey, back left) immediately confused my Dominiques:

The feathered trio perched on the box for some time, examining their new surroundings.

Eventually, Amelia flapped out on my arm, followed by Charlie:

Amelia hopped off and Henrietta came to visit.

Everyone flapped and pecked around for awhile, the Dominiques still unsure what to make of the scene.

Sometimes, a bird flew up to visit:

Charlie apparently didn’t wish to be photographed.

Amelia, on the other hand, is a bit of an extrovert.

This next photograph in particular is noteworthy as it preceded the biggest event of the whole visit and, as a result, was the last one I was able to take:

Here, you can see Josephine, the larger of my two Dominques, investigating the flock of little ones. I’m not sure what prompted this visit, but she came running over like the Junglefowl were on fire. Then she stopped, puffed her feathers out as big as she could and stood there, staring. Suddenly, she pecked at Charlie, who in turn jumped up and pecked back. Josephine recoiled, clearly not expecting this, but regrouped, kicking Charlie to the ground, planting her other foot down on him in the same motion, amidst a flurry of flaps, pecks and some sounds I’d never heard. Before we found out what grisly thing was coming next, I grabbed her up and threw her in the coop. She complained, loudly, for the duration of the visit.

Charlie was ultimately uninjured, although ruffled from the encounter. Nothing else of note occurred, as John had to take off shortly thereafter.

And there ends the tale of the bird visit.

Amelia and I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the read! Thanks again for stopping by!

Cast Iron Breakfast Thing

On By Joseph McMahonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I don’t know what to actually call it? Breakfast skillet?

Anyhow, my friend, the bird breeder, is coming by this morning with some birds to socialize with my Red Junglefowl, Amelia. I made this food experiment for breakfast and feel it turned out well.

First, I fried two potatoes (seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic) in olive oil.

Next, the sausage patties with maple syrup drizzled on top.

Step three, add the potatoes to the sausage skillet.

I made a clearing in the center for four eggs………

It didn’t quite go the way I thought it would. Perhaps I should have just let them fry, rather than trying to scramble them. I, however, will not be stopped by ugly- looking eggs.

Yes. It pleases me.

Added four slices of American cheese and baked in the oven at 350 for about five minutes:

Nice.

Served with toast and hot sauce.

As always, thanks for reading along with me!

Tales of Birds

On By Joseph McMahonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As you may have noticed, I have a baby chick. I have not written about them or shown them until now, but I have two fully grown hens in the yard as well.

I live in an old line suburb of Detroit. The neighborhood, affectionately nicknamed the “cabbage patch,” is predominantly made up of two-story flat rentals, small apartment buildings and long, skinny “shotgun” style single-family homes. It is, effectively, early 20th century inner city Detroit living. We have a diverse array of neighbors and see each other a lot due to the tightness of our homes and yards. This may seem like unnecessary information, but I feel it is good background, as I believe the closeness of the community has helped greatly in answering the most common question: “How the heck do you have those birds in the city?” Simply put, everyone in the neighborhood loves them and I have never had a complaint.

Anyhow, one day last year, my friend, the totally deranged bird breeder, dropped these two off. No, really, he calls me and says “I have these birds and I’m on my way, see you soon!” (I wrote a short narrative on the whole incident and will post it someday.)

They are of a breed named Dominique. Also known as Pilgrim Fowl, this breed is considered the oldest American chicken, likely descending from fowl brought to this continent by, you guessed it, the Pilgrims. At one time, they were uncommon enough to be listed as “endangered” but have recently enjoyed a surge in popularity and numbers.

Josephine and Alberta weigh about six pounds each and lay delicious brown eggs with dark yellow yolks:

This morning, I am working toward acclimation, that is, getting the adult birds to accept Amelia, the young RedJunglefowl, in “their” yard. The Red Junglefowl is a different breed (and arguably a different species) from both the Dominique and modern chickens.

So far so good, they are mostly ignoring her, which is preferable to the first time I tried introducing them, where Alberta pecked at her. This is not an easy process, taking loads of time and patience. I am confident, though, the result will be a beautiful, healthy mixed flock.

Thanks for reading! More bird updates are on the way!