Paz

As a young girl, I played all types of sports – soccer being one of them. I have to say I wasn’t bad at all. At the time, I lived in Africa. One day, as I practiced alone out front in the garden, one of the neighborhood boys saw me and decided to challenge me to a one-on-one game.

We moved back and forth between our designated goalie spots and I managed to get the ball away from him several times. Best of all, I scored goal after goal after goal.

After 30 minutes, the boy decided he’d had enough. He hadn’t expected me to beat him. Hurrying away as if he were relieved no one witnessed his game, he left me with a parting shot. “You won because you don’t know how to play. You’re a girl.”

At that point, I wanted to kick him instead of the ball.

I’ve always enjoyed watching ‘the Beautiful Game.’ This is the description sometimes used for soccer, which is mostly known as football or association football in many other places. According to Wikipedia, the name came from soccer megastar Pelé’s 1977 autobiography entitled Pelé, My Life and the Beautiful Game.

It’s fun to watch all the different teams play. It’s entertaining to see the pride of their supporters (Click here to see the celebration in Brazil). There are a number of different teams that I like to cheer. I know it sounds crazy. LOL! Don’t ask. I also like to root for the underdogs.

My World Cup reading list for this 2006 season is:

Pele, My Life and the Beautiful Game – Pele with Robert L. Fish
Hand of God: The Life of Diego Maradona, Soccer’s Fallen Star – Jimmy Burns
Futebol: Soccer: The Brazilian Way – Alex Bellos

I think I have some good reading ahead of me to do! All those watching ‘the Beautiful Game,’ enjoy!

After seeing the Big Bird last week, I didn’t think I’d see it again. Yet the opportunity arose once more, this week. I’d finished exercising and headed home, when I saw an unexpected sight — the Big Bird at the entrance to the park! Imagine my surprise!

I’ve since learned from a friend that Big Bird (Until I come up with a better name, I’ve decided to call him Big Bird.) is a male turkey.

Amazed, I watched him for a while. I found it incredible that this beautiful brown feathered turkey (my photos don’t do it justice) is living in the park. Maybe it’s not an incredible occurence to others, but as I wrote earlier, the park is not the place one expects to see a turkey.

He busily pecked at the ground for food with the other pigeons and birds, as the squirrels did their own thing, too. When he noticed me, he moved away.

A few people passed by, but no one seemed to notice Big Bird. They were all in their own world. I wanted to call it to their attention — Hey, look, a turkey! What’s he doing in the park!? However, none of the joggers looked like they wanted to be bothered. So, I said nothing and returned my attention to the turkey.

I pulled out my camera and walked towards him to try and get a closeup. My photos are bad because of the turkey’s movement and far distance from me. *sigh* The faster and closer I tried to get to him, the faster and further away he moved. Boy, was he fast. Big Bird kept moving till he disappeared into the park bushes.

I could only stand there and watch. Big Bird, come back! Stop running away from me! Where are you going?

I’m told that turkeys are timid and not very intelligent. So, unlike some other birds, they won’t recognize that I mean no harm. Oh well, I guess our love affair wasn’t meant to be. In the meantime, I’ll take some birdseed for him, the next time I go to the park.

Paz

Still running away from me