The Importance of Having Names and Having Choices for Chickens
Lefty, Rudy, Beau, Rugger, and Tïp-pït-Ÿ
This chapter is one of my favorites because of the story behind the story and what it says about chickens. Chickens are quite familiar with the story of Adam naming all of the animals when the world began. Their beliefs are passed down through their own oral stories from parents to little children. The first chickens were not named “Hen” and “Rooster” or even “Chicken.” They were given familiar names like what you and I would give them—names like “Lefty” or “Rudy.”
Chickens believe very strongly that getting a name from a person is a true blessing. It ensures that they will always be remembered and will live on in the hearts of those who love them and they will have an everlasting life with plenty of sun and grass and snacks that creep and crawl. And they will be surrounded by and infused with Love forever. (The chicken-y version of “heaven.”)
Chickens believe that since the time of Adam and Eve, people have been God’s representatives on earth, and what they say is very important, almost as important as God’s own words. You may remember this from the text on the back cover shared previously:
Words are seeds. Words are gifts. Like the gift of fire from Prometheus, the gift of words can change the world, even if only in a single life.—Nate
Chickens think of God as The Great Gardener. This is a lot like how Gracie and then others when growing up thought of Nate as The Gardener. He reminded them of The Great Gardener because of how he took care of them from when he first saw them. Gracie especially felt the results of good words that Nate spoke into her heart such as “You are so much more than good enough.”
You will find threads of what chickens believe throughout this chapter. They have a very good way of looking at the world and their place in it. Lefty also shares the strongest piece of advice ever given to anyone who has chickens or children:
“Telling is not the same as showing. Without possibilities, there is no choice. Without possibilities, there is no knowing—for either of you. And so a person’s hand is inclined to hold all the more tightly to prevent possibilities and choices.”—Lefty
From Lefty’s perspective, it was not enough for Nate to tell Amelia she could leave any time she wanted to, Nate needed to show her that she could make a choice to go if she wanted to stay or go, and he would love her no matter which she chose. Perhaps Amelia saw Nate leaving the Garden and going off on his bicycle and exploring the world. What if she felt going away was something only people got to do? What did this show Amelia and the others? How did Nate treat the time when he was away from their Garden home? How did he use the choice he had? And how would Amelia use the choice she will have once it has been given to her?
One of the things I appreciate about Lefty is how he asks the important questions in life that we all need to answer. Here is one of my favorite Lefty Life Questions from this chapter:
“What do you think your purpose in life is?”
That is an important question for any reader of any age to answer for themselves. In this chapter, watch how Lefty turns Nate’s answer into something genuinely important to Lefty himself with a good result for everyone involving The Naming Ceremony.
I sat on the ground, unfolded the plans for the new coop and run I had built, and placed them onto the ground for Lefty to examine. We were once again eye-to-eye like in the old days of our first summer together.
He noticed right away that I had drawn several small pictures of hens with their wings spread out. There was a “G” under the one representing Gracie and an “A” under the one representing Amelia. Then there was a rooster with his wings spread out and stretching outward to crow. That one had an “L” under it for Lefty.
“You drew me quite well,” he said.
“I did that so you would know the sizes of everyone and everything. Chickens measure things differently from people.”
“You need to give her a choice,” he said.
“But I told her she could stay as long as she wanted or go whenever she wanted.”
“Telling is not the same as showing,” Then he gave me time to think about this.
“Without possibilities, there is no choice. Without possibilities there is no definite knowing—for either of you. And so a person’s hand is inclined to hold all the more tightly to prevent possibilities and choices.”
He gave me even more time to think about this before adding, “You also need to know that Amelia may be what we chickens call a Sentinel. Many Barred Rock hens are. Mayflower is.”
“Does Mayflower send a swift with messages to you the way she does to Gracie?”
He chuckled. “The crows are my Messengers. I had sensed there was something special about Mayflower when we were growing up.”
“Can you tell me what a Sentinel does?”
“They read the signs of the earth to know what has happened in the past to know better what will happen in the future to prepare or guide others.
“As a rooster, I have ways of protecting my little flock here. As a Guardian, I have even more ways of protecting flocks throughout this area—and not just flocks of chickens. All birds. Just like the Raven With Blue Eyes and her Squadron of Crows showed you when you were here last.”
“Does a Sentinel do things like that?”
“They protect us all, but not in a way that you might think. They protect us from ourselves and our poor choices. They will even give of themselves to save us from ourselves.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Do you remember the day when Gracie danced for everyone that first time after The Robin had taught her how to dance ballet? Mayflower sensed that Gracie was going to do that even though she had never told anyone, not even Bessie, of her plan to face The Bigger Scary Thing and dance in front of the ones who had once made fun of her. Early that morning, Mayflower told me that I would see Gracie do something that would change my life.”
“And seeing her dance that day and then joining her in dancing that day changed your heart and your life. That is why you told me you would never have become a Guardian without Gracie.”
“Exactly. Mayflower saved me from myself. She saved me from being selfish and thinking only of myself. A selfish rooster is no good to anyone. And a Guardian can never be selfish or else all the lives being protected will be at risk.”
“Then Amelia must be a Sentinel, exactly as you said. She has helped me just like Mayflower helped you because I would have never learned what A Most Wondrous Place is until I learned it with her.”
“The life of a Sentinel is all about helping others to find their purpose in life and then becoming who they are meant to be. That helps the whole flock.”
I had to chuckle.
“My uncle says I still need to find my purpose in life. He doesn’t think my purpose in life has anything to do with chickens.”
“What do you think your purpose in life is?” Lefty asked.
“I am not completely sure. But I am working on a book. It’s a collection of words, and I titled it The Dictionary of Curious Words. My uncle thinks it is all about smart words that educated people need to know to impress others, but it is really about all of the words I have learned in the Chicken language.
“My uncle says smart words will help people be more successful. I think it’s good to be successful at understanding chickens. When a person understands someone, it is much easier to be kinder to them.”
“I know at least one purpose you have in life,” said Lefty. “And that is naming our young chicks.”
I laughed at how he had turned the conversation so deftly and diplomatically, and so I watched the three chicks playing together while he examined my drawn plans more carefully. Finally he tapped my knee to let me know he was ready.
“You will need a cam and a lever here along with a high perch. A counter balance and pulley here. And rope. Sturdy. Nothing that a field mouse could gnaw through. A field mouse would ruin this plan.”
As he spoke, he pretended to make lines with his beak on my drawing. I took out my carpenter’s pencil and traced over each one after he had made it.
“It is good that you chose Dutch doors. The bottom door must stay locked shut to keep out animals like cats. The top door must open quickly when Amelia steps from the perch onto this platform. But it must close slowly to give her time to fly out before the door closes behind her.”
And then to make sure I understood completely, he said, “This is the only way for her to do what she must do. Even she may not fully understand yet what she must do. Be patient with her. Sometimes we only see enough to get us to the next decision.”
After we had drawn his additions to the new home, he added, “If you need any help, show this drawing to Gracie. As The Raven and The Crows have told me, she is quite good with doors that can be opened with no hands. She will be excited to learn how this one can also close with no hands. That will be something new for her.”
“I see. So Amelia can leave, and the rest will stay safely inside, even if I am not at home.”
“Exactly.”
“Gracie and I should have this done in no less than a few days. But it would be faster if you were there to supervise.”
We both smiled. It seemed odd and curious that we would be so happy about a plan to allow a chicken to leave a safe home any time she wished. It is certainly not what you would expect if you loved someone.
“If you love her, you will let her do what she must. If she is a Sentinel, she will not be able to rest until she has done what she must. And I have a feeling that what she must do will be for someone she loves very much.”
“Ready?” he asked me, pointing towards his three youngsters. I nodded. “Ready!” he called to Rudy. She had just come down from their coop and had assembled the others around her. She moved them into a line, and they all stood silently looking at me, their eyes wide-open with curiosity.
“Is it going to hurt, this naming thing?” whispered the smallest up to Rudy.
“Hush,” said Rudy. “Of course not.”
“We aren’t afraid, even if it does hurt,” whispered the other two.
Rudy nudged the largest forward with her beak under his tail feathers. “This is the oldest, a cockerel.”
“You are handsome just like your father, even though you have more of the beautiful coloring of your mother,” I said. “Tall and charming, persuasive and commanding with your words. Your name is Beau.”
Lefty and Rudy looked pleased, and motioned for him to return to the line with the others.
Rudy nudged the next largest forward just as she had done with Beau. But it was only just a small nudge because he seemed quite eager to get a name. “This is the next to oldest, also a cockerel.”
“You are strong, much stronger than your older brother even though you are not as tall,” I said. “And just now you pulled the cord on that bucket there with your beak until you got to whatever was hiding under there. Strong and persistent, unwilling to give up. Your name is Rugger.”
Rudy and Lefty looked pleased, and Rugger did as well. He gave me a nod, almost like a salute, and walked back proudly to join Beau and the one yet to be named.
Rudy smiled down at the littlest one who gave a timid smile back up at her and stepped forward one hesitant, wobbly step after another without any nudging.
As she looked up into my eyes, it looked as if she might fall over backwards at any moment, and I was reminded of when Gracie had stepped forward to face The Big Scary Thing which had once been me.
“You have all of the sweetness of your mother and of your father,” I said, and then leaned in closer as if to tell her the biggest secret she had ever heard. “Yes, your father does have a sweet side, even though you may not see it very often. And although of the three, you look the most like your mother, in your heart, you are more like your father than either of your brothers.
“I’ve seen how you tipper and totter as you played with them. You looked as if you might fall over at any moment, but you always kept up with them.
“I have a feeling I will grow to love you the way I love my own Gracie, but that name is already taken.”
Then, perhaps because she could hardly wait any longer to get her name, she stood on her tiptoes for me. I leaned down even further and smiled. “Your name, dear one, is Tïp-pït-Ÿ.”
Rudy and Lefty stood motionless and their mouths slowly opened as if to speak but not knowing what to say. They did not look pleased, but they did not look upset either. They whispered back and forth to each other.
Tïp-pït-Ÿ looked towards at her parents with a confused expression her face.
“Did I say something wrong? Is that not a good name?” I asked.
“Not at all,” they both quick said. “It is a beautiful name.”
Rudy called her over to them. She looked into Tïp-pït-Ÿ’s eyes and said, “You have a most beautiful name indeed. We will explain its meaning to you later.”
She called the others to her. Then they all practiced calling each other by their new names until it became a kind of song that they all enjoyed immensely.
Soon they were all smiling and Lefty explained, “What surprised Rudy and myself is that Tïp-pït-Ÿ is a word from Old Chicken, the language spoken and understood only by chickens and kept secret—even from other kinds of birds.
“You see when the first person named the first animals, the first hen was named TiP-PiT-Ÿ. She was the mother of us all. Now, I can not tell you what her name means for your dictionary because it is from Old Chicken, but I can tell you that it foretells something very good, a new beginning for all chickens within the lifetime of her, our littlest one.”
“And we are very grateful,” added Rudy.
“I always thought the first chickens were named Hen and Rooster,” I said. “Sort of like Cow and Pig or Dog and Cat.”
“That is not how we understand naming. All of the first animals were given names as if they were friends and blessed. That is why we wanted you to be the one to name our chicks,” explained Lefty.
“And that is why we do not want to name them ourselves,” added Rudy.
And so as I left the little family where everyone finally had a name, I was also left with a decision. Should I add TiP-PiT-Ÿ to The Dictionary of Curious Words even though it would not have a meaning? And if I did, should I indicate that it is an Old Chicken word?
I would need to ask Gracie. It might be dangerous for people to know there is a secret language beyond the everyday language of chickens. There might be a Chicken rule for not sharing words from Old Chicken, but okay for sharing words from Everyday Chicken.
And yet, Old Chicken words seemed to be the most curious words of all. Writing a dictionary is a much more complicated task than I had ever imagined.
And so that is where we will pick our story back up again next week when Amelia is able to make choices and then tries out this new door that Lefty designed for Nate to build!
Our Next Project for Publishing
For some time now, we have wanted to work on two new projects (1) a book especially for our younger readers and (2) a book of Bessie’s favorite recipes. Our next project combines both of these into one fully-illustrated paperback book with step-by-step pictures and directions. We are calling these books Bessie’s Best Ever Muffins. There will likely be more than one book in this series based on what fruits and vegetables are freshest in the garden and supermarket. For example, spring is perfect for spinach, so those would be in Bessie’s Best Ever Muffin Recipe Book for Spring. Spinach is tasty in muffins, and while you are preparing your spinach for the muffins, why not chop up some extra for your feathery chickens friends, your children, or your furry friends like hamsters, guinea pigs, and gerbils?
Where did this idea come from? You may remember in the old days of My Life With Gracie that we would often share tasty recipes that Bessie tried out in our kitchen. Here is one old example that we liked then and would use in Bessie’s Best Ever Muffin Recipes for Fall or Winter with some revised illustrations and better directions.
Every recipe will need to have something that will make a tasty and healthy treat for chickens, children, and furry or feathery friends! Chickens do like onions (although some people say onions can give a hen’s eggs an odd taste and the sulphur in onions can cause irritation to a chicken’s mouth, esophagus and can even lead to ulcers in the stomach and crop), and chickens also enjoy nuts such as walnuts and pecans when chopped into nicely-sized pieces. If you’re going to have chickens, you need to be good at chopping!
Until Next Time
Thank you for reading along with us. If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, please use the comment section or email them directly to John.Spiers@yahoo.com. We are always appreciative of your thoughts and feelings, ideas and suggestions.
We are close to finishing the last few chapters of Volume Two: Over the Chimney and we are so appreciative of our encouraging and supportive fans. You make the challenging job of writing worthwhile, and we would find it difficult to continue on without you!
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Blanche, Pearl, Emily, and Amelia
By the way, if you—like me—are missing the old days of My Life With Gracie, we are republishing them all online at https://mylifewithgracie.com. This is part of Medium which we like much better than WordPress because it is easier to use. And it also pays writers for their stories that are read. I’ve been sharing work there since November of 2021. Medium is a great community of readers and writers. Some of our old friends from WordPress may want to give it a look and consider publishing there.
I often share articles about Writing My Articles on Medium About Writing. I also share article about how You Can Learn A Lot From A Chicken (these include a wide variety of topics brought to you by the prestigious faculty of World Of Worms University with a distinct chicken-oriented slant (like Astronomy, Betty Boop, Color, Economics, Politics, and Religion). I also specialize in articles about Art in the area of Art Is for Everyone.
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