So maybe a lil story to make you smile?
This morning, after getting groceries, I pulled up the alley to park next to my back porch and unload, as I always do.
The neighbors on the other side of the alley have a fenced in yard with a wrought iron gate a open onto some grass next to the alleyway. They also have a coop and four or five chickens in there which they sometimes let out to walk the yard.
So anyway, I turned into the alley and there in the grass in front of their gate, was a chicken. He was pecking at the ground, but could have easily walked out into the alley....and maybe gotten hit by a car? So I stopped the car, put my blinkers on and got the bags out of the trunk onto my porch (as I do every Sunday), while keeping an eye on the chicken who just kept pecking at the grass.
I opened the gate and then stood on the other side of the chicken and kinda waved my hands towards to gate saying, "come on, buddy, go on inside. Right inside the gate there. You don't wanna be out here man." And I walked slowly towards the chicken. It just stood there.
Then, suddenly, it ran towards me, looking like, to me, like it was gonna peck my foot! I jumped back (and probably shouted a lil) and the damn bird ran right past me...and under my car. I was like, "no no no, don't go there!" but it listened to me as well as it had before. I could bend over and look under that car and saw that it was right next to the inside of the driver's side back tire. And it didn't look like it was moving.
I momentarily thought of moving the car forward some, but quickly threw that aside, as I could run over the damn thing. And if I didn't, it could run somewhere else before I could get park the car and get out to look where it was. So the only thing to do was knock on the door and tell the neighbors.
Now it's early Sunday morning, so i wasn't sure if they'd be up. Luckily, after I knocked, she came to the door, but didn't open all the way, nor do more than stick her head out. I told her was was going on and she said, "Okay, I'll send him out."
I went back to my car and made sure the bird was still there. Then TR came out. We were both laughing. He said he has no idea how it could have gotten out, of course, I didn't either. He looked under the car, saw him and called for it...which the bird entirely ignored. So he went and got some birdfeed in a cup. He knelt, shook the cup and called for the bird. Nothing. He dropped some food right outside the car shook it some more, called for the bird. Nothing.
I suggested getting a broom and maybe pushing him out with that. So TR went and got one. And used it to slowly push the bird out, back towards me. I told him it was out. He came back behind the car with me and started to used the broom to try to push the bird back towards the gate across the alley. The bird was having none of it, not moving.
Then, suddenly, it jumped OVER the broom, ran between his legs and went between my house a small storage box I have the lawn mower in. We both threw our hands up laughing. He suggested I park my car to get it out of the alley, maybe that's why the bird doesn't want to go back that way, who knows. So I do. As I'm doing that, I later find out, TR used the broom to get the bird out, but it ran further AWAY from the alley and under one of the two cars parked there. TR was saying a few choice words.
I took the groceries inside and got my own broom. When I came out I told him maybe I could help with that, but he was walking between the cars and he was holding the chicken. I said, "Oh you got him!" and he said, "I chased him out into the grass there and with nothing to hide under, they just squat down and sit there and try to be invisible or something. So it was easy to pick him."
He thanked me for my held and we laughed as I came back in the house.
And I realized something: I am NOT a chicken wrangler, that's for sure!
POLT
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