Wilbur

Life is often not fair. Some of us are born lucky - with a nice-looking face, a good body and of generally attractive appearance. But Wilbur is scrawny, has a misshapen body and suffers from a pronounced limp. There's no gentle way of putting it. Wilbur is ugly.

And its awful to always be the one that is never picked. When I was a young farmer, country boys went to dances and chose from the array of females sitting around the outside of the dance floor. These days, I daresay the females do the choosing. Occasionally the top choice had to be rejected because there was insufficient petrol in the van. No use offering to see a lady home if she lived outside the range of the fuel gauge. It must have been awful to be the one never picked, never offered a lift home. Just as it must have been sad to be the only one who never managed to 'pull' at all. This is exactly what happened to Wilbur. He was not 'picked' by anyone.

Sometimes the Wilburs of this world have the last laugh. The Wilbur in this story was a Norfolk Black turkey, who had spent his early years on a 'pick-your-own-turkey' farm in Totnes, Devon. All 49 of his 9 month old mates have been 'picked' during the run-up to Christmas, and taken away with the promise of specially 'dressed' for Christmas Day - leaving poor old Wilbur on his own - rejected. His owner, Peter Hayford, Chairman of Turkey Club UK has now decided that he will become a pet, and in future will be allowed to roam free on the farm amongst the cattle, ducks and geese. Wilbur will become 'one-of-the-family' and will live out the rest of his days in a happy and peaceful environment.

So on this Christmas Eve, don't be despondent if you are no oil painting, or you feel that you are being left out, or the world is not being fair to you. Pour yourself another glass and think of Wilbur - and where his 49 mates are now. And have a very happy Christmas.