Gretchen chased a wild turkey up a tree this morning and I've asked her please not to do that again.

It was a peaceful, quiet Sunday morning, perfectly suited to rifling through the sales fliers in the Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper. The Memorial Day weekend sales fliers were abundant.

The perfect place to read and glance at the ads was out on the side porch. That vantage point allowed me to keep an eye on the comings and goings of the birds as they sampled the variety of offerings in the recently filled feeders.

The area underneath the porch, which is enclosed on three sides, is considered the dogs' house and they spend a fair amount of time there. The floor is carpeted with fresh cedar shavings and the "house" opens into a 50X100 feet fenced area that they and I call their pen.

Some of you may remember that Gretchen, a collie mix, is now going on 13 years of age but she acts and moves like an adolescent dog. She is amazingly fast! And has a very loud voice.

Gretchen and her shepherd brother, Votan, were happily snoozing in their house this morning while I sat above them on the porch reading the Op/Ed section of the paper.

I heard a slight noise, a whisper of a noise, a sort of soft rustling sound from somewhere in the tall weeds beyond my property, somewhere down under the power lines.

The dogs heard it at the same time and before I could blink, Gretchen was up and out the gate flying down in the direction of the noise. Her barking caused a flurry of activity from the center of the weeds and then I was able to identify a large ungainly bird struggling to ascend.

It was a turkey!

The poor turkey was so frightened by Gretchen's barking that, with great effort and much difficulty, and with a profound lack of skill and grace, it flung itself up above the weeds and lumbered upward onto a very high branch of a pine tree on the far side of the power lines.

After a stern reprimand, Gretchen returned to her house and stayed there for the duration.

The poor bird sat up in the pine tree huffing and puffing and sighing and moaning; I almost could hear her heart thumping.

After a few minutes, I could hear her chicks, hidden down among the tall weeds, softly calling to the treed turkey, pleading with her to come back to them. Their voices were soft, persistent and persuasive. It took nearly an hour for the turkey to figure out how to get back down from that height. It was rather a noisy descent which ended with a distinct thud .. apparently not a soft landing.

It is unlikely that she will lead her chicks through that area again any time soon.

Goodnight now, and love to everyone,