I find so many opportunities to use this word lately. Apparently so do the folks at Webster Dictionary who added it as a recognized word this past year. It is not the only new word – actually 533 words or phrases were added. My other favorite was “dad joke”, which I am sure most of my humor would clearly qualify under. One clever person reminded us if we were hungry for more words, do not eat the dictionary, “you may get thesaurus throat you have ever had”, ba da boom–a dad joke. So, back to the big bird. Karen and I went for a drive and when we rounded a corner on Cartwright Road this object was in the middle of the road. It looked like a back pack had been left but as we approached, it was a very large wild turkey, Tom or gobbler. The birds weigh up to 25 pounds and stand over 4 feet tall. Contrary to popular belief they are agile, fast fliers. Other than that strange waddle thing the male bird is quite beautiful. Gadzooks, is an exclamation of surprise or annoyance. Every time I hear Fearless leader on the television I think to myself of the word or egad, forsooth or zounds. These are not expressions from Batman but gadzooks references dating as far back as the 1600s – thought to be the shortening of the phrase “by God’s hooks”. It first appeared in print in Charles Dickens’ 1845 work Nicolas Nickleby. The Turkey is not considered a wise bird – we think of a “turkey” as a person who does something thoughtless or annoying, a disagreeable person or as an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual. Perhaps it is obvious why I felt compelled to name the preening foul, Donald. That moniker could be a reference to a favorite Disney character or maybe not?
There are many heartening stories of people reaching out to help others. Sean Pena’s CORE group organizing testing facilities in Los Angeles, Tommy Ahlquist starting his Crush the Curve project here in Idaho, and the Idaho Nonprofit Center launches a two week fund raiser across Idaho to fund the critical not for profits in our communities. San Antonio’s food bank is feeding thousands each day where the needs are graphically demonstrated by a line of cars that stretches for miles. New York continues to wage a battle for life and the nightly cheers for first responders and health care workers is recognition of the emotional support. Here in Idaho a tip of the CAP to Idaho Business for Education. There are literally thousands of students who cannot go to school on line due to lack of a computer or connectivity to the internet. The Community Activation Project—CAP—is a collaboration of Idaho Business with the motto, One Idaho, every student matters. Learn how you can help at #EmPowerIdaho at Idaho be.org/cap. We are the greatest country on earth because of the strength of our selfless citizens’ responses to a crisis or a just cause.
