Friday, August 19, 2011

Chickens!

This one's for Willie!
Yesterday I stopped at my favorite Amish vegetable and fruit stand to fetch my corn ON the cob and my tomatoes, a favorite summertime supper. The young man who has helped me in the past was there again behind his usual box of small change.....the box that makes the pine plank into a makeshift store. Barefoot as always, and with a weathered straw hat propped haphazardly on his head, he told me that this year he would be in the 8th grade, normally the end of Amish schooling. "But now," he moaned, "we have to go to school for about an hour once a week until we're fifteen." (I think I got his story right.....the Amish have a Pennsylvania Dutch accent that is sometimes difficult to understand.) Moving on after thinking about that additional schooling and scratching his head, he began to figure the tally on my purchases. Sometimes it takes a while.
Just then, in a furry of feathers and a gaggle of giggles, around the corner came a Latino family screeching in Spanish while running after a large chicken/ rooster/ poulet of some sort. I don't know much about chickens.....could have been a Rhode Island Red or a Pennsylvania Purple....but it was huge,,,,,as winged creatures go. Yes, it was bigger than a sparrow, but okay, smaller than an eagle or a condor.....maybe. I dodged the darned thing while the trio of family members tied up the feet and away they went to the car with their prize. I should have asked if it was dinner.....or a pet.....but I was too stunned and more than a bit scared. Those creatures flap around and have sneaky beady eyes and razor-sharp bills. Besides, Poppo was waiting at home with the cute corn holders, the red-handled butter spreaders, and the salt shaker.

The point of this blog is to shout out a hearty thank-you to the powers that be in Newport News for not allowing even one pet chicken within the city limits. Those things could be really dangerous if their feet came untied.
xox Mammaw

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