The weather had turned overnight. In addition the wind had picked up as well. We bundled up with more layers than we had recently in anticipation of being exposed to the elements far longer than usual. We would commence our annual turkey hunt today in decidedly colder weather than yesterday. We expected this as our luck with good whether for events is a bit less than abysmal. My wife and I joke about this prior to all events and trips.

(40F with winds up to 20 MPH)

Our hunting destination was on the other side of the forest, closer to the river to the east. We live on the shore of the western river but had rarely had luck hunting on our side of the forest. We would travel the well worn path nearly two miles across to nearly the eastern river and then trudge a further two miles north. This location was a known turkey area and we had been highly successful there in the past.

(Hudson to East river, through Central Park, and north to Aldi at 116th street)

We quickly descended from our home was elevated a good two hundred feet from the western river. An elevation that provides spectacular views of the wide river an both shorelines. It is just a tenth of a mile to the path and we had to brace ourselves against the ever increasing wind from the west. Once we turned east and had the wind at our backs it was considerably less abusive. There was well serviced carriage stop just ahead and would not have to wait long for one to arrive.

(M79 bus stop)

We ride this route periodically and enjoy the views as we traverse the land to the forest commenting on the area as part of idle banter. On this day our main topic of conversation was a delay on the path. We could only speculate as we had no forward visibility. Mind I was the one doing all of the speculating as my wife did not really care. The delay was relatively short lived and we found ourselves traversing through the forest and admiring the seasonal colors.

(There was a garbage truck in front of the bus on W81st Street between Amsterdam and Columbus)

The edge of the eastern side of the forest has a collection of well built homes. In fact, one of the more successful merchants who recently served as an elected ruler, had one such home. Being a merchant he had long ago bought a home right on the path. From here it would be less than a mile to the transfer point where we would catch a carriage north to the hunting region.

(5th Avenue. Michael Bloomberg resides son East 79th Street)

After confirming the transfer protocol with the carriage driver we exited at the transfer station. Again our wait was short lived and we again ensconced in a carriage, but now headed north.

(M15 going north on 1st Avenue)

At this point my wife reminded me that we would need two birds. Recently our cooker had collapsed and we were currently doing all of our cooking in a temporary, but decidedly smaller, cooker. Where normally we would be looking for the largest bird possible, we would now be looking for two much younger and smaller birds.

(Our building is undergoing a gas remediation project and our gas oven/range is inoperable and we are using electric hot plates and a small electric oven we affectionately call the easy bake oven. Internal limitations mean the bird can not be larger than 7” high 12.5” long and 11” deep)

We exited the carriage at the nearest stop to the hunting area and began a quick trek to the designated hunting stand.

(1st Avenue to the East River to Aldi)

To our utter surprise we were able to get the two birds in mere moments to our settling into the hunting stand. Both birds were about twelve pounds and would fit nicely in our temporary cooker.

(Took both down with our debit card)

An extremely successful hunt. It would be a Happy Thanksgiving.