Greg doesn't know what to make of this chicken love. That two girls could want to pick up and snuggle and coo at a bunch of (poo covered) baby birds all the time seems a little ridiculous when viewed without that extra chromosome. Albeit, they are bigger now and not nearly as cute (ie: fuzzy), but to us they are still babies.
This movie was made when they were 2 days old and today is their 3 week birthday. Holy smokes how little chicks grow. Of course, baby chicks have meant sharing our bathroom, lots of noise and a bit of a smell, but it's all good. They are our babies and one especially, "little one", has worked her way into our hearts for sure. I have never seen a chicken who likes to be picked up as much as she does. Of course, I haven't seen many chickens.
Let me rewind a bit. This year we decided to get chickens again to replace the flock we lost last year. One was eaten by my family (Bock Bock the rooster - his obituary is an earlier post), one was eaten by a ? and one we gave to a farm after feeling like she was lonely (her name was "puffy cheeks" and she kept coming in our house - hint hint.)
But this little farm perseveres! This year we are all chicken ready with a coop that is *almost* all the way ready, 6 instead of 3, & a space for them to grow right from baby fluff to feathered hens all here on our sacred spiral farm. Last year chicken days at our local seed and feed was 3 weeks pre-move and we didn't even have a coop built so we had them at our friends' home while they were babies instead of our tiny apartment. I never got used to Luna handling them & none of us were really ready for them when they arrived (no coop built yet, lots of mud, neighbor's dog ... let me just say it was a bit of a chicken stress-zone). Nonetheless, we loved them and they us (I think) and in the end, I learned that I really *did* want chickens -- of course this was after they were all gone. Such are life's lessons for the learm-on-the-go kind of gal I tend to be.
The chickens brought all sorts of lessons for me - as most creatures or people do when I let them into my world. Acceptance of death was right in my face as I watched my little one find worms for pets, play with them for awhile singing and making them homes, only to then march them over to the chickens and offer them up as food. "I love you wormy I love you wormy - here you go chickens." And the life cycle is complete. Don't cry for me Argentina!
Luna is also teaching me how to raise chicks. Someone has to want to pick them up and coo to them and get them comfortable with our huge human selves. Children have an innate sense of how to interact with the natural world and if we are open we can learn from these sage souls. Nobody taught her how to hold these babies - Greg and I know absolutely nothing about raising birds, and yet here she is a little authority. Last year I was cautious and worried and uncomfortable with all the wanting to hold and feeling like these babies should be with their actual chicken mommas instead of here with this bright light and a bunch of people. I missed the magic that can come out of combining heaven and earth - combining people and nature in a divine balance. I was blind to the fact that my fear was keeping these babies from finding this girl who had so much abundant love for them they would never miss that chicken momma that they wouldn't have known anyway.
Right now seems a time for balance. We are desperately needing to return to a balance between man and nature and on this little farm we are at least trying to do our part. There is a beautiful book I read recently called Uno's Garden by Graeme Base about a man who starts a garden and then it all goes out of control attracting people and eventually they build this huge city until everyone realizes that it's not that fun to live with just buildings and they leave. I thought I wasn't going to like the book at this half way point, but then Uno and his offspring rebuild an eco town in perfect balance with the wildlife around it. It is possible and I am so grateful to stumble onto dreamers like Mr. Base who like me hold on to the eternally optimistic dream that even when things have gone so very very bad we can always learn and make them better. I think that the first order would be to start listening to and trusting in the children.
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