The Chickens of Quiet Harbor

 

When we first moved to this retirement community, there were three concrete chickens with chipped and faded paint setting in the weeds along the fenceline. We were told that at one time there was a 3-hole golf course on the grounds with a chicken marking each hole.

The three, (Shall we name them Cluck, Penny and Peck?) remained in the weeds until a couple years ago when an enterprising maintenance man built this roost for them.

This year our next door neighbor gave them a fresh coat of paint and added those solar powered lights you can see in front of the chickens in the first picture.

It's kind of eerie to see Cluck, Penny and Peck glowing in the night - and yet, in a way, somewhat homey and cheerful.  😊🐔

They Enter Our Dreams

Forty some years ago, I discovered and became an admirer of Wendell Berry. I am sorry to learn that he died yesterday at age 92. I have shared many of his poems and quotes before but not this one:

The Loved Ones By Wendell Berry

The loved ones we call the dead

depart from us and for awhile are absent. And then as if

called back by our love, they come

near us again. They enter our dreams.

We feel they have been near us

when we have not thought of them.

They are simply here, simply waiting

while we are distracted among

our obligations. At last

it comes to us: They live now

in the permanent world.

We are the absent ones.