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Thu, Oct 30, 2025

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Carrion Luggage

by Waltz in the Lonesome October

Rated: 18+ · Book · Opinion · #2336646

Items to fit into your overhead compartment

Carrion Luggage

Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.

This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.

It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.

It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."

I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.

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Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

🌝 HuntersMoon

39 minutes ago
In response to "Flick of the Risk"

There is no such thing as "zero-risk." Yeah, you said it but it bears repeating.

@ Annette It depends. If you live in a gingerbread house, then, yes!

1 Like

tj says Boris sent me

about 10 hours ago
In response to "Naturally"

When I first read the title, I thought "chemophobe" was a person with a deep fear of chemotherapy. I fear each coming infusion, know the effects, but it's not a phobia:

As for: “I should really get the organic peaches,” I say yes, the plastic and wax ones are terrible.

As for Twinkies, I've heard that they have been found in the tombs of pharaohs along with honey, both of which were still good!

2 Like

Annette

about 11 hours ago
In response to "Naturally"

I remember when bags of gummy bears were advertised as 99% fat free.

That's when I gave up on "free from something something" claims.

If a product is known to be one thing (sugar and colors) and I've agreed to eat it because it's fun and I enjoy it, then telling me a random factoid usually puts me off.

But I'm the kind of person who understands that I AGREE with the ingredients in prepared foods if I choose to buy and eat them.

The chemophobes are a sad group of people who need to go back to second grade reading and comprehension class.

3 Like

Spudy Specter👻

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Naturally"

I ate Cheetos and peppermint patties while reading this.

4 Like

Battywyn🎶Prep!

about 13 hours ago
In response to "Naturally"

You already know you and I are sympatico on this topic. Don't even get me started on GMOs. But I did want to thank you for the (ridiculously punny) apple article. I shall keep that up my sleeve for future arguments debates, since the article is probably nicer than I am when the topic of "chemicals" comes up.

3 Like

🌝 HuntersMoon

about 14 hours ago
In response to "Naturally"

Hey! What's wrong with Twinkies?

OK, if you actually read labels you'd never eat again. As you point out, most of the "chemicals" are found in nature. Few people are sitting in a lab, beakers boiling, creating the next wonder food.

Until something is shown to be harmful, just consider yourself part of the long term study and enjoy.

3 Like

tj says Boris sent me

a day ago
In response to "Flick of the Risk"

Unfortunately, fear, whether justified or not, has been used to influence people since the dawn of humanity. As for natural and unnatural, if it comes from nature, it's natural; if it's created by wizardry and magic, it's unnatural. It may be a very simple explanation, but it works for me.

2 Like

Annette

a day ago
In response to "Flick of the Risk"

Waltz in the Lonesome October

- I was aware that apples are a poor example of something natural because of all the GMO. As of now at least, they still grow on trees. We don't manufacture them by baking sugar and coating it with sugar. (yet?)

I wonder if a Twinkie tree would look good in my front yard.

3 Like

Waltz in the Lonesome October

a day ago
In response to "Flick of the Risk"

Annette

- I think his point is that the apple you're describing is the result of some amount of genetic manipulation and/or had insecticides, fungicides, etc. used on it. "Natural" doesn't always mean "better;" poison ivy and deadly nightshade are "natural." And as he notes, lots of our food has been subject to selective breeding at the very least.

What you're describing is, in my view at least, the difference between lightly processed and heavily processed.

And also in my view, we humans are part of the natural world, so anything we do can be considered natural. Even Twinkies.

3 Like

Annette

a day ago
In response to "Flick of the Risk"

"every single item in supermarkets has received some amount of manipulation by humans and finding any boundary between natural and unnatural becomes impossible"

That's like he just said, "I'm a blithering idiot with zero discriminative abilities."

A normal person can understand that an apple tree was planted, apples were harvested, apples were put into crates, and apples are displayed in a supermarket. They are, for the most part, a natural item.
To say that the Hostess cake next to it, which is designed to be our food supply after the nuclear holocaust, has no natural/unnatural boundary compared to an apple is so far beneath dumb that I don't know what to call it.

1 Like

#231. Naturally
ID #1100397 entered on October 29, 2025 at 10:34am

#230. Flick of the Risk
ID #1100327 entered on October 28, 2025 at 11:04am

#229. Another Wry Bread Pun
ID #1100252 entered on October 27, 2025 at 9:51am

#228. Picking the Lark
ID #1100174 entered on October 26, 2025 at 10:00am

#227. Facts? Maybe.
ID #1100100 entered on October 25, 2025 at 10:29am

#226. Mexican Standoff
ID #1100000 entered on October 24, 2025 at 10:23am

#225. Dis-Integrated
ID #1099927 entered on October 23, 2025 at 9:32am

#224. Look Who's Finally Awake
ID #1099853 entered on October 22, 2025 at 9:52am

#223. Science Mews
ID #1099785 entered on October 21, 2025 at 11:10am

#222. To a Tea
ID #1099699 entered on October 20, 2025 at 9:46am

#221. I'll Have Mine On Wry Bread
ID #1099636 entered on October 19, 2025 at 11:01am

#220. What In Dalmatian
ID #1099558 entered on October 18, 2025 at 10:25am

#219. In Cheese's Name, Amen
ID #1099474 entered on October 17, 2025 at 9:38am

#218. Night Moves
ID #1099410 entered on October 16, 2025 at 9:20am

#217. Dodo or Dodo Not (There Is No Try)
ID #1099348 entered on October 15, 2025 at 9:43am

#216. I'll Wait for the Movie
ID #1099284 entered on October 14, 2025 at 8:52am

#215. It Fell from the Sky
ID #1099218 entered on October 13, 2025 at 9:06am

#214. Clap
ID #1099156 entered on October 12, 2025 at 9:55am

#213. Troy, Troy Again
ID #1099090 entered on October 11, 2025 at 9:48am

#212. Technomedium
ID #1099037 entered on October 10, 2025 at 10:36am

#211. Thumb Drive
ID #1098963 entered on October 9, 2025 at 9:50am

#210. Judgmental Health
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#209. Herd It Through the Bovine
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#208. Bugs-B-Gon
ID #1098753 entered on October 6, 2025 at 9:41am

#207. Sutra Self
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#206. Web Spinner
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#205. Lost and Found
ID #1098541 entered on October 3, 2025 at 10:36am

#204. A Titillating Discovery
ID #1098460 entered on October 2, 2025 at 8:57am

#203. Put Up Your Duke
ID #1098388 entered on October 1, 2025 at 9:25am

#202. Alienation
ID #1098323 entered on September 30, 2025 at 11:38am

#201. Stranger Danger
ID #1098242 entered on September 29, 2025 at 10:06am

#200. Cut to the Chase
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#199. Don't Be a Dopamine
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#198. Helpful Tips
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#197. Cheesed Off
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#196. Shakedown
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#195. Occam's Razor-Stuffed Apple
ID #1097917 entered on September 23, 2025 at 7:30am

#194. Look Around
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#193. What's Up, Dox?
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#192. Wit In and Wit Out
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#191. Tongue Tied
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#190. March to Mars
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#189. All Over the Map
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#188. Huge Erection
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#187. Pay Me
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#186. Entropical Storm
ID #1097342 entered on September 14, 2025 at 10:47am

#185. Zucchi-NO
ID #1097273 entered on September 13, 2025 at 9:19am

#184. Teamwork
ID #1097212 entered on September 12, 2025 at 7:59am

#183. That's Life
ID #1097110 entered on September 11, 2025 at 9:19am

#182. Let's Scroll
ID #1097052 entered on September 10, 2025 at 8:06am

#181. In a World of Pure Imagination
ID #1096997 entered on September 9, 2025 at 10:08am

#180. A Star Trek
ID #1096931 entered on September 8, 2025 at 8:25am

#179. WDC25, Day 7
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#178. WDC25, Day 6
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#177. WDC25, Day 5
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#176. WDC25, Day 4
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#175. WDC25, Day 3
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#174. WDC25, Day 2
ID #1096359 entered on September 2, 2025 at 12:51am

#173. WDC25, Day 1
ID #1096293 entered on September 1, 2025 at 9:36am

#172. Paint It Black
ID #1096227 entered on August 31, 2025 at 10:53am

#171. Welcome Back Again
ID #1096170 entered on August 30, 2025 at 9:37am

#170. We're All Runners
ID #1096120 entered on August 29, 2025 at 10:47am

#169. Gamma Ways
ID #1096044 entered on August 28, 2025 at 10:42am

#168. It's Not What You Think
ID #1096000 entered on August 27, 2025 at 10:10am

#167. Titanic
ID #1095958 entered on August 26, 2025 at 9:59am

#166. Instant Kama
ID #1095907 entered on August 25, 2025 at 9:45am

#165. Alfredo Their Own Shadows
ID #1095858 entered on August 24, 2025 at 8:33am

#164. Keep the Cat Alive
ID #1095789 entered on August 23, 2025 at 9:06am

#163. Melon Collie
ID #1095749 entered on August 22, 2025 at 10:25am

#162. Ferry Tale
ID #1095673 entered on August 21, 2025 at 7:25am

#161. Elephants of Style
ID #1095626 entered on August 20, 2025 at 9:34am

#160. That Joke Is Older Than Dinosaur Meat
ID #1095573 entered on August 19, 2025 at 11:54am

#159. Grumpy Old Man
ID #1095491 entered on August 18, 2025 at 9:35am

#158. Still Running
ID #1095445 entered on August 17, 2025 at 11:22am

#157. Sleep On It
ID #1095387 entered on August 16, 2025 at 8:47am

#156. Unhappy Campers
ID #1095338 entered on August 15, 2025 at 9:43am

#155. Burger? I Barely Know 'Er
ID #1095275 entered on August 14, 2025 at 7:48am

#154. Why So Selfies?
ID #1095219 entered on August 13, 2025 at 9:53am

#153. Allergic to Selfish
ID #1095155 entered on August 12, 2025 at 10:54am

#152. That's Corny
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#151. Three Times
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#150. Past Tents
ID #1094971 entered on August 9, 2025 at 10:24am

#149. Hold Me
ID #1094921 entered on August 8, 2025 at 9:43am

#148. Bold Strategy, Cotton
ID #1094858 entered on August 7, 2025 at 9:41am

#147. Lager? I Barely Know 'er
ID #1094802 entered on August 6, 2025 at 9:38am

#146. Live Long and Suffer
ID #1094742 entered on August 5, 2025 at 8:37am

#145. Put On a Happy Face
ID #1094669 entered on August 4, 2025 at 9:38am

#144. Search and Research
ID #1094614 entered on August 3, 2025 at 9:16am

#143. Go Go Godzilla
ID #1094554 entered on August 2, 2025 at 11:30am

#142. Lightning's a Beach
ID #1094513 entered on August 1, 2025 at 1:35pm

#141. Sun of a Beach
ID #1094430 entered on July 31, 2025 at 8:23am

#140. What I Think
ID #1094373 entered on July 30, 2025 at 9:37am

#139. Strings Attached
ID #1094315 entered on July 29, 2025 at 9:52am

#138. Reality Check
ID #1094252 entered on July 28, 2025 at 9:22am

#137. Pill Bugs
ID #1094199 entered on July 27, 2025 at 11:12am

#136. Light the Fuse
ID #1094118 entered on July 26, 2025 at 7:55am

#135. Going Wit Out
ID #1094073 entered on July 25, 2025 at 10:31am

#134. Y'all-Inclusive
ID #1094016 entered on July 24, 2025 at 9:43am

#133. Inside the Box
ID #1093951 entered on July 23, 2025 at 8:36am

#132. Enduring Durian
ID #1093895 entered on July 22, 2025 at 9:48am

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