I’m learning some life lessons from a chicken. We have chicken. Just one. The chickens, plural, died, thanks to some hungry wildlife.
Mr. Bear took one of the chickens, along with half the trash, leaving me to pick up old diapers across two acres on a sweaty summer morning when I had somewhere else to be.
Mr. Coyote and his friend Fox were also seen hanging around and are both suspects.
Nevertheless, we don’t really miss the chickens. They were lousy at laying eggs and downright mean.
I had to buy store-bought eggs recently and I began contemplating a new social media movement called “Chicken Shaming.” You’ve seen those posts where people post pictures of their dogs wearing signs that say, “I ate my mom’s flip flops” or “I drink from the toilet.” I briefly considered making my chicken wear a sign that said, “I make my owner buy store-bought eggs.” Then I tried to think about hanging a sign on a chicken and decided against the struggle.
Now that I think about it, this trend could totally work for toddlers, too. My four-year-old could most certainly hold a sign that says, “I snuck under the dressing room door before my mom could get dressed and come find me.” My seven-year-old can write her own sign, but I get to pick what it says: “I just used my toast to wipe my nose.” The baby is perfect. She’ll never hold any signs.
Let me get back to the chicken. My daughter named her “Lulu.” I thought that was so cute until I realized that is the name of the villain in the book she’s reading at school. That chicken deserves a villainous name, to be honest. The kids are scared of her. She will run after you with her feathers a-flying. All three of my kids have cried at some point because of her and will run in fear when she gets close. It’s no wonder, considering she will peck you for absolutely no reason. Yesterday I was standing beside the car buckling in a kid and felt terrible pain on my ankles. That dumb chicken!
But I’ve been thinking that maybe the chicken is trying to be nice. Maybe she doesn’t know pecking hurts. I think it’s her way of getting our attention. Now that she is all by herself, so just seems so lonely. She stands at the window looking inside. She jumps in the car every time someone opens the car door for more than half a second.
She’s constantly underfoot when we are outside. And then there was that one day I was washing dishes and looked down and there, in the middle of my kitchen was that chicken, just standing there. She just looked up at me, as if to say, “yeah?” So sometimes she is underfoot inside, too. It took me twenty minutes to run her out with a broom. And then all she did was stand by the door windows and look inside.
For the record, it is quite scary to hear someone knocking on your door at 11 p.m. when you’re home alone and realize it’s just the chicken pecking at the door. Peck, peck, peck is chicken code for “I. Want. To. Sleep. In. Your. House.”
She quit sleeping in her henhouse awhile ago and now sleeps on the front porch, right on the chair by the window. It’s pitiful really, and I would feel so sorry for her if I didn’t get mad about all the bird poo on the front porch. (I apologize now to anyone coming to visit, but check your shoes.) If I even open the front door just a crack, she comes running to see who is there. You know, I don’t think that chicken is as mean as we think she is. I think she’s just lonely.
Which leads to my life lesson. I think sometimes those who hurt us the most, may just be hurting themselves. A hurtful word, a nip at our ankles… You don’t know where they’ve been. They probably survived a bear attack. Their best friend may have suddenly disappeared. If someone is mean to you, give them a hug, bring them inside, help them get warm. No, I’m not bringing the chicken inside, but that’s only because I’m not sure how to potty-train a chicken. And if the chicken doesn’t get nicer with some love and attention, we may just have Sunday dinner.
So here’s my new saying to embroider on the pillow-case: If someone is pecking at you, give them a little love. And if they are still mean, eat them.
