Birded!

I was so happy to have a three-day weekend this Christmas. Nothing is worse than a Christmas on a weekend, when you don't get any extra days off; three-day weekends are the best-case scenario. I'd finished all my Christmas preparations early, so I was able to just enjoy the holiday for the most part.
Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve, we got "birded".

This awful thing

"Birding" is an extremely annoying tradition in my church. Someone gave this terrifying, molting stuffed pheasant to my pastor one year, and he left it on another parishioner's porch as a re-gift. And since then, it's made the rounds. A set of rigid rules developed, including that you can't regift the bird to the same family more than once a year, and that whoever is stuck with the bird at midnight on Christmas Eve has to keep it until next year, when it "takes flight" again on Christmas Eve. Passing the bird must be done secretly, as you must keep the bird if you are caught.

I remember that the first time we got birded, we were attempting to binge watch Making a Murderer, but were interrupted by this dumb bird, requiring us to gallivant all over the city to find another recipient. This year, we got the bird right before church on Sunday morning, and we tag-teamed it. I went to church, and surreptitiously texted him names of people safely ensconced in their pews. Meanwhile, he crept to their homes and eventually left it on the porch of a house without a locked gate!

David leaving the bird to another lucky recipient

Phew. Safe until next year. Although I really am a little over this tradition. Nothing says "holiday season" like creeping around like a burglar...