“I have always wondered,” he paused, during which time he used a stick to keep the chicks in line, so that they wouldn’t push each other at the feeder, “why the military don’t start raising turkeys. Peep-peep-peep…”, and with the stick he brought back the chicks that refused to eat. “You get out of here, you have already eaten.” He dissuaded a hen from its intention to come and peck with the chicks.

 My father and I were sitting on a log in the backyard in the shadow of the house on a hot summer afternoon. Since I was a child, I have loved sitting next to him while he is working and talking with him about everything – from how to build a chicken coop to why the military should start raising turkeys. While I was wondering how to explain to him that the army, as part of the whole country, had let various people profit from it and the feeding of the personnel had long ago been transferred to companies, and not just to any companies, but to the companies of the right people, that the auxiliary farms hadn’t been around for a long time, and it hadn’t crossed anybody’s mind that they could raise turkeys.

“Because, my friend,” he paused again, “there is no better radar than the turkey, let me tell you. Come on, you have had enough, go and drink some water. Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluuuck,” he began calling the poults to feed. Now, he astonished me with this, and before I asked him what he meant, he carried on: “Here, look where they are looking now, in a little while a plane will come from there.” All the turkeys had raised their heads and were looking southeast, after a while a plane appeared in the sky, at least 8,000 metres high. It passed and the turkeys carried on walking in the backyard. It was amazing, I was sitting there and I couldn’t believe it, and at the same time I was amused: “All right, as soon as I get back to Sofia, I will phone General Gavrilov, and I will tell him about your suggestion, I am convinced he will accept it. However, now that I think about it, what about at night, aren’t the turkeys in the chicken coop?” “Oh well, at night let them turn on the stations…” my father was laughing. The turkeys raised their heads again, this time they were looking north-west. After a while the plane appeared above us.