we gave our six chickens up for adoption this morning while adah was roller skating. i'm honestly relieved, but little heavy hearted to see my bug's friends go.
anyone who knows our little knows that she loves these birds. she's been a chicken whisperer since she was two when we decided it would be a good idea to raise a bunch of chicks in our downstairs bathtub. she's raised and best-friended two separate flocks, chased the wandering fuckers around the neighborhood, took them to the park on multiple occasions, fed them lots of treats, and spent many summer afternoons swinging with them in the hammock. she's also grieved the ones that died during that horrible portland heat rash a couple summers ago. her heart has grown bigger because of them, and i don't think that's overstating.
anne and i have grown weary of them, however, especially during the long and muddy portland winter. every afternoon neither of us want to go to the backyard swamp and take care of them. we'd love to leave them out all day, but even when we clip their wings, they fly over our fences and escape. "we're just watching the show!" some people yelled down the street the other day while four school-aged children and i attempted to chase them back home. it was only funny the first 50 times, and as summer nears, we'd like to start planting our garden. since they fly over our short fence into the front yard, they immediately demolish anything we plant.
adah can't hear these reasons yet, and that's understandable. fortunately they've just moved about a mile away to alex and laura's house, so she can visit them there. she asked us to deliver them while she wasn't here, so we're giving her some time...
