All in an afternoon

 We  came across this herd of longhorns not ten minutes from our house.  Shortly thereafter we spotted these beauties (below) gawking down the side of the road.  When they saw us (there were about 6 or 7) they all tried to poke themselves through the fence to safety.  Without success, they then FLEW over to the other side of the road!  I tried to position myself and camera through the sunroof to get a picture of them wings spread, flying over, but there is only so much one can do stopped in the middle of a curvy road.  Look at the tiny beard of the gentleman on the left and the grand, trailing beard of the tom on the left.  Note the iridescence.  I tend to agree with Ben Franklin that the turkey should be our national bird.

When we arrived home, Joshua called me over to see this "volcano" that the ants are building in a crack in the pavement.  They were working so steadily, carrying grains of dirt from under the cement to build up their home.  Joshua is sure they laid that pine needle across the top to serve as a bridge.