Somehow, my friend Brian Patterson and I found our way to the conversation topic of monogamy among fish and birds and non-human mammals.
We were breakfasting at Cafe Homestead, but that's not what led us to the conversation. I would also like to point out that the conversation wasn't crass. I don't think we could have offended anyone at the surrounding tables, and I'm quite sure that no one was actually offended. The thing is, you can look up anything on the Internet and if you have a smart phone, you can do that while waiting on breakfast to arrive at the table.
So we reached the topic of monogamous animals and happened across a list called "Going Steady: 10 Animals More Monogamous Than Us." This is how we learned that black vultures will actually come together as a community and attack a vulture suspected of cheating.
And this piece of information, of course, stirred my imagination and led me to this potential vulture dialogue.
Vulture 1: Say, did you hear Victor was caught cheating with another vulture's mate up on Blood Butte?
Vulture 2: What, like they actually caught him in the act?
Vulture 1: Well, no. But he's been acting strange. You know? Flying in different circles, so to speak. It's really very suspect.
Vulture 2: Well if he's suspected of cheating, then he's in trouble.
Vulture 1: Yeah, so we're going to go attack him. Are you in?
Vulture 2: Do I even know Victor?
Vulture 1: Sure you do. I introduced you last week at that party at the dead warthog.
Vulture 2: Oh that guy? Yeah, he looks like he would definitely cheat.
Vultre 1: Right?
Vulture 2: Yep. Let's go get him.
-- The End --
Ahh, I enjoyed that. Almost as much as I enjoyed breakfast at Cafe Homestead. (Wasn't that a smooth transition from something that has nothing whatsoever to do with Waco restaurants?)
Brian had never experienced a Cafe Homestead breakfast. A guitar player by trade, he's kind of hard to motivate in the morning. I can't really talk too much, though, as a sportswriter. But the legend of the Cafe Homestead breakfast prompted him to make it out of bed and over to my house before 10 a.m., which allowed us to make it to Cafe Homestead while they were still serving breakfast.
And that allowed me to eat one of the most delicious pancakes I've ever eaten. The reason the pancake in the accompanying picture looks like a blueberry Pac Man is because it was so tempting that I took a bite of it before I remembered I needed a picture for this blog.
Other than the pancake, two breakfast items caught our attention this morning. The hash browns were also as good as I've ever eaten. Maybe the best I've ever eaten. And the salsa, which I sloshed onto my scrambled eggs, had more zing than I might have been expecting. Brian used some of the salsa on his omelet and raved about it.
It has to be said that, as the summer wears on, I'm evermore longing for the beginning of football season, which means rising on Saturday morning with a day full of college football games on the agenda.
For now, though, breakfast at Cafe Homestead with a good friend with good conversation that involves the personification of vultures is about as nice as a Saturday morning can get.
