It is a small miracle, to be sure, but still, a miracle in a world where love is sometimes forgotten, anger and argument prevail, and hope grows cold. We took Fran out of her crate today, and she just seems to have almost miraculously healed. Yesterday, Maria and I both thought we might have to put her down.Today, we were shocked to find a different hen when we took her out of her crate, walking about the yard, pecking for bugs, and, very touchingly, sniffing a Daffodil that just gave birth to itself also, right through a freezing cold snap. Life will have its own way sometimes, even against the odds, and even when it seems too insignificant to notice.
Speaking for myself, I will not ever be certain of how much time and energy a chicken is worth. I hope I give as much attention to people in need. My wife is different, she embraced the idea of Fran’s healing from the beginning, and then we both tackled it together, as we always do. I married well. Gatorade, fresh eggs, ointments and creams, meal, attention, soothing voices. Oh yes, and meal worms.
If I am certain of anything, it is that Fran is an unwitting participant in this drama, feeling no anxiety, uncertainty, or gratitude. She got out there, shook herself off, paraded around and picked off quite a few bugs. And I am surprised. I’ve never shown her original wounds, they are just too gruesome. But animals, like people, can heal in their own way, if permitted. Fran will never know that thousands of people all over the world, some dubious, some enthralled, followed her struggles every step, every day. I have lived on a farm long enough to know that death is as much a part of an animal’s life and sunrise. Rose and I learned early on to leave behind our old notions of pets and our no-kill fantasies. In the real world of real animals, harshness and brutality is routine. Fran could easily catch it tomorrow, snatched by a hawk, killed by a raccoon, a weasel, a ferret. Even the fox, who has not given up.
In the contemporary world, on the news, in the stories, the fox almost always wins. Not this time, not this week. Fran’s story reminds us to not to lead small lives, and to open our hearts and souls up to life.
More photos of Fran’s rebirth on Facebook.