Some tallies of unusual things I saw today:

Wild Turkeys: 20+
Oh boy, we were cruising down Bolton road (narrow, gravel, treed, etc.), came round a bend, and then what was there up ahead but a massive army of wild turkeys! Although they beat a hasty retreat, I can’t help but wonder that if I wasn’t driving a rental car, I might have tried to bump one off (literally speaking). A roast turkey dinner would be nice right about now.

Cars in the Ditch: 3
While enjoying the delightful springtime weather the other day, I asked myself if Winter had finally given up for another year. Well, the answer appears to be “no, it hasn’t” judging by the sudden dumping of the chilly white stuff. As a result, the roads were slick on the way back from Ottawa, and not everybody was able to stay on the pavement. I can’t help but wonder if I wasn’t driving a rental car that happened to have AWD, I would’ve ended up there myself!

Documentary Films: 1
Well, the purpose of our turkey-ridden and treacherous trip was to go and see Sharkwater, which was more than worth the time, carbon emissions, admission fees, and other assorted costs. The film is full of truly wonderful images of sea life, and does a marvellous job of capturing the interplay between sharks and enormous schools of fish, sharks and divers, and sharks and other sharks. Filmmaker Rob Stewart makes some interesting suggestions — namely that sharks are our friends (and not the killers that they’ve been made out to be), and indirectly make sure that there’s enough of that oxygen stuff to go around.

The environmentalist/conservationist agenda comes across loud and clear, although without being too preachy — Stewart’s tone is much to personal for that. Yet the footage of the eco-revolutionaries and guerrilla activists is just as interesting as the deep-sea shots, presenting some real-life, high seas adventure; the Sea Shepherds that Stewart tools around with have no problem taking time out of their busy days to ram illegal fishing boats and string up barbed-wire to prevent the Costa-Rican Coast Guard from boarding their ship.

One thing — while the film is only rated PG, I wonder if it should’ve been higher… but perhaps images of mating sea-turtles don’t bother the censors that much. I don’t know, it seems a little risqué to me!