Issue #125 | June 26, 2026 | Previous issues​

Hey Reader,

Yesterday, my friend Nicole and I went for a walk and saw two turkey vultures munching on carrion. Yum, lol, for them.

I wasn't raised in a time when Google was at your fingertips and info was accessible anytime, anywhere.

It has taken me awhile to get used to whipping out my phone and doing research on the spot.

I'm used to having to wait for answers. I'm used to planning trips to the library where I had to search for the right book to answer my question.

Remember, Encyclopedia Britannica? We had the whole set. My parents paid thousands of dollars for it, hoping we'd learn something.

Now I'm learning to research in the moment, with the understanding that whatever the AI or web tells me may or may not be correct. Sigh.

Welcome to the age of instant answers, where truth and accuracy are rare commodities, more valuable than gold.

Did you know there was a time when people trusted their neighbors and even strangers passing through? Sure, there have always been people out to hurt others. But they were not the norm. People trusted each other unless proven otherwise. Today, it's the exact opposite. Trust is hard earned after many years of accumulated evidence.

Anyway, back to turkey vultures.

They eyed us suspiciously and we eyed them nervously.

Are turkey vultures aggressive? Would they attack if they felt threatened by us or thought we'd steal their meal?

We stayed on the opposite side of the road just in case.

But I googled it. Right there on our walk.

Are turkey vultures aggressive?

No. They are not. But what was even crazier was how turkey vultures defend themselves when threatened.

Projectile vomit. 🤮

Yep, you heard me right.

They vomit out the rotten and acidic contents of their stomach—up to 10 feet away!

Not sure what you're thinking, but I’m thinking it would be kind of amazing to have that superpower: the ability to vomit acidic rotten spit on command to protect myself and my loved ones.

OK OK I am half kidding.

My brain has been searching for the lesson. Is there something we can learn from a turkey vulture?

When you feel cornered in life, how do you react?

What are your defense mechanisms?

Sometimes when people feel threatened, they do not respond with calm or clarity. They respond with whatever is already rotting inside them.

Fear.

Shame.

Suspicion.

Old wounds.

Exhaustion.

Resentment.

Unprocessed pain from 1987.

Someone gets too close, asks the wrong question, has the wrong tone, or appears to be taking something from them, and suddenly—

Emotional vomit.

That’s what I’m calling the sudden, uncontrolled dumping of raw, unfiltered feelings onto someone else before we have time to sort through what we’re carrying.

Maybe emotional vomit is what happens when we haven’t digested what we’re carrying.

And maybe that is the real lesson from the turkey vulture.

It is not attacking because it is powerful.

It is reacting because it feels threatened.

It is trying to get lighter, fast.

But the problem is, what gives one creature relief can leave another creature standing there burned, stunned, and wondering what just happened.

Not because people are evil.

Because they are scared.

That does not mean you have to stand there and get covered in it. Please don’t make that the takeaway.

Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is what Nicole and I did with the turkey vultures.

Stay on the other side of the road.

Observe.
Learn.
Keep walking.

Not every defensive reaction needs to become your emergency. Not every suspicious glance needs to become a courtroom trial in your mind. Not every person who throws up their fear, anger, or insecurity needs you to clean it up.

You can understand that someone is scared without letting their fear become your responsibility.

You can care without volunteering to be the target.

And maybe, when we are the ones feeling threatened, we can pause long enough to ask:

Am I responding to what is actually happening?

Or am I about to emotionally vomit on someone because something old got poked?

I wish I could say I always choose the mature response.

I do not.

Sometimes I am the peaceful woman on a walk.

Sometimes I am the turkey vulture.

Life is humbling that way.

But awareness helps.

A little pause helps.

And maybe that is one small way we protect truth in a world where trust feels fragile.

We learn to notice what is real.

We learn to notice what is fear.

And when needed, we keep walking.

Sometimes to the other side of the road.

And sometimes, when it is safe, side by side.

With love,

Anna

P.S. Your tiny practice for the week: notice one moment when someone else’s panic starts to feel like your emergency. Pause and remind yourself, “This is their stress. I don’t have to stand in the splash zone.”

And if you are the one feeling defensive, ask, “Is this about what’s happening now, or did something old just get poked?” Then take one small step to the other side of the road.

​aferalhousewife.com​