The Backyard Flock: Catching Rays

I’ve been putting off leaving the house all morning. Now it’s afternoon. My last excuse is to catch the weather on the 12 o’clock news on TV. It’s over and I’m moving around like I’m almost outta here when I look out the window onto Chickenland. It’s 93 degrees in the shade and God only knows how hot in the sun, and there’s a chicken laying on her back with her wings spread!

Is she dead, I wonder. I wait for signs of movement. Another chicken emerges from one of the coops and disturbs her reverie. She gets up and does the chicken walk around back into the shade.

Cooling their heels under the sun during a heat wave; taking dirt baths, eating broken glass... Have you ever seen the movie “Little Big Man” with Dustin Hoffman? Remember the Indian they called a contrary? Yes, my flock is a contrary bunch, indeed.

I was pleased to learn, yesterday, that mine is not the only flock to whip up into an occasional frenzy of cackling and screeching. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with them. We were rehearsing my play out on Elaine Brown’s farm, yesterday morning, when I heard another flock doing their version of the Anvil Chorus from across the horse pasture. Suddenly, I felt right at home.

Okay, I'm out of excuses. Into the heat!