Winter drumstick

17th and Race, Denver

Ah, the ever elusive Winter Drumstick. I might have had something clever to say about it, but now I can't stop thinking about how weird it is that we refer to a chicken's leg as a drumstick. Wikipedia reveals that we use the word drumstick in reference to the wooden things that we use to beat a drum, a type of ice cream cone, the leg of poultry, a chewy candy, a vegetable, and a film from 1955. What do these things possibly have in common that would give them all the same name? I guess it doesn't matter. What does matter, however, is this uneaten piece of fried chicken, caught in the act of sloughing off its formerly crispy breading all over the cold, dirty, slush-covered sidewalk. I almost ran over it, as you can see, but stopped in time to appreciate it. Who knows how long it had been on the sidewalk. In L.A. that thing would be eaten by the wild beasts (dogs, cats, pigeons) in no time, but here in Denver it's relegated to a slow decay, made even slower by the cold weather. If I had the choice, I'd choose to be the ice cream cone.