i'm not going to lie to you guys. i appeared to be the only one who was unnerved by the following experience. i'll let you be the judge.
when i visited seattle in march the ro's and i went to the chateau ste. michelle winery. it was both mega-classy and educational, and the grounds were really beautiful. as we were walking back to the trusty prius we turned and saw THIS:
woah. right? i did not know how committed the winery was to classin it up. in my mind peacocks = instant sophistication [evidenced by my super dignified reaction pictured below]:
so, clearly the peacock is less than threatened by us. he didn't even have the decency to get in the shot, which it seems like he should have been trained to do. at this point we're wondering, why the heck is that guy just roaming free?
is there some kind of peacock themed event taking place?
if so, how can i quickly transform what i'm wearing into an appropriate peacock costume?
are peacocks normally found in washington?
if not, was he lured by the elegant yet understated winery atmosphere?
wow. i can't believe that i didn't go into journalism with that kind of inquisitive nature. anyway, we tried to get a shot with the whole bird in there. that, my friends, is where the trouble started.
look at the OBVIOUS attitude shift of that peacock. he is on the offensive. threat level orange. everything used to be just fun and games, but now we're getting serious.my personal threat level was at like, electric green [which has got to be the worst one].
he bided his time before making his next move. you can tell that lisa is in obvious turmoil even by her hand and a half in the picture. we stayed still waiting to see how our new frenemy [it's in the dictionary] was going to play his cards.
ohhhh NO! look at him, descending the stairs to COME AFTER US! clearly in the whole fight vs. flight thing this guy is a definite fighter. come to think of it i don't think peacocks can fly, so maybe it wasn't as much an option for him.
this is probably about the time i started yelling for passersby to hide their kids and wives.
he got to the bottom of the stairs, and i was pretty much ready to bolt. he's standing right about where i was in the previous couple pictures. as i thought about running i started to wonder how fast a peacock could chase me. i mean, is this like a grizzly bear situation where he could clearly outrun me? should i try to look threatening to keep him back? in all seriousness, i really do remember thinking, i should try to look as big as possible so he doesn't think he can get me with his talons.
i think this is where he clearly defeated us. i would like to point out that the term "frenemy" is super appropriate for this bird. he was pretending to be our friend in the beginning, but he doesn't want us all up in his business.
we snapped a couple last shots, but it was pretty clear that we couldn't compete.
in all fairness, the ro's weren't quite as threatened by the whole peacock situation as i was:
david is just lucky that cavalier attitude didn't earn him a brutal pecking. [ i think that's what i was afraid of?]
i'm pretty sure i was just muttering, "uhhh, david. be careful. maybe move a little.... david?"
i really hope there's no part three of this series, because 2 parts has already been enough for me. i am staying overnight in a cabin tomorrow, though, so who knows?
