While you might think Turkey Day aka Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday of November, in our household turkey day seems to be everyday.

In the last couple of years, the wild turkeys in our area of Cape Cod have increased like crazy. While it is fascinating to watch them waddle across the road with the “kids” in tow, recently they have become a nuisance to our home. *

Our little home is situated on Oak Street- aptly named due to the numerous oak trees throughout. We have quite a lot of them on our property. Apparently, turkeys LOVE acorns. They provide much needed nutrients for them. Unfortunately, all this eating has certain biological consequences.

The turkeys are very civilized. Not only do they like to eat and graze like normal foraging animals, but they seemingly also like to congregate, sit down and share a meal together as evident by the biological consequences on our deck! Not only did they mess the deck, but left evidence of their presence on every chair and table. With all the nautical themes on the Cape, we officially have a poop deck.

When we first discovered the detritus from their meal, we had arrived at our cottage for the weekend. Needless to say we were not planning on spending the entire time cleaning and disinfecting the deck. Once cleaned, we researched online for ways to discourage them and prevent from happening again, so we set up a very noisy distraction- a line tied with ribbons and clanging aluminum lids. It certainly would be a distraction for us humans as loud as it was.

Alas, on returning the following weekend to our cottage it appeared that the turkey preventer system did not work. In fact, it looked like it might have even attracted more of a crowd! As I grumbled and complained about the mess the birds had made, I looked up to see if there was anything else we could do. “Shoot them” our one son jokingly advised.

It appears that turkeys have a voracious appetite for ticks. So, while I am not a fan of their using our deck for their acorn orgies, I am grateful for their clearing the yard of ticks. I also like the way they aerate the lawn during their foraging sessions.

They have been a reminder to me that problems and life are not so binary- yes/no; on/off; black/white but rather a yes/and. Most times in life, one doesn’t experience absolute problems or absolute solutions. Rather, problems can be seen as yes, the birds have caused a major problem on our deck and furniture and they also remove the ticks from our yard. Many times situations in life are like that- there is some type of benefit even with a problem.

What about you? Have you ever had a situation that seemed to be the worst but discovering that it is not as bad as thought? What were the benefits, if any?

The apostle Paul reminds us to give thanks in everything. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Sometimes we do not want to- there is too much poop on the deck to find the blessing. But there is something good out of our turkey visits- a decrease in ticks. I was reading a commentary on the 1 Thessalonians verse. Interestingly that the verse uses the little word, “in” as “in everything give thanks”. It doesn’t say “for” everything.

I am sure you would agree it would be very difficult to say, thank you for cancer. That would be too Pollyanna-ish. Rather we can give thanks that while we are in a difficult situation, God is with us in the middle and the muck. We can view the situation and find things for which to be grateful even if the solution of the situation seems unattainable. I do believe God works for good it is just that we might not see it- yet.

So, yes, we have a poop deck and we have a tick-free lawn.

Fun-facts: A group of turkeys are called rafter, crop, dole, gang, posse, raffle. Adolescents are called jakes, the tender young (under 4 weeks) are called poults, females called hens and males, toms.