Just Stay at the Top of the Hill

         It’s been nearly a year since my first mention of the neighbor’s chickens.  They used to lean a ladder near the fence so the chickens could climb back into their own yard.  

At first it was just a few on the hill – not the 15 plus that have accumulated in our yard during that time.  Roland doesn’t want them under the deck and I don’t want them on the deck.  We don’t want them in the garden and so have been putting up barriers all over the yard. 

we had to add netting to the steps to prevent them from going through

 

I did find at least three of them on the inside; they had dug
under the wire to make it wide enough to go though. Roland
used some stakes for the bottom.  Hopefully that will work.

Despite our efforts the chickens have managed to dig under, fly over, or somehow manage to squeeze themselves into areas where we’d rather they not be. 

The chickens always stop near the deck and look longingly on how to get inside and have found ways to get in and will need to be chased out until we can plug up what we had managed to miss. 

a few of the chickens discovered they could enter through this hole

our temporary solution

It’s just a temporary fix at that.  We have wanted to turn the deck into a back room since we moved in.  We finally have the finances to do so (or good enough credit in order to borrow) but cannot find a contractor who will commit to any earlier than December.  Someday.  Meanwhile, we’re continuing to battle the chickens to certain boundaries – which doesn’t seem to be setting well with them.

I thought I could make some profound comparison to God’s commandments for us or certain restrictions that citizens may feel toward the mask or getting the vaccination (looking at the staff of Moses – Numbers 17: 10-12) and the reaction of the natural man.  Instead of belittling the laws or commandments and searching for a way to get back into our own comfort zone maybe take a moment to understand WHY the net is there, why the fence has been put up, why the commandment was given. 

When I saw the chickens at the top of the hill my initial thought was, “Oh, good.  They got the message.” 

They don’t understand and they return.  I think many of us do that.  We don’t understand.  We return to what was familiar – like Pre-COVID for example.  Circumstances change and often we have to change with it.  That’s just the way it is.  Hopefully we will come to terms and learn better than the chickens do.  But there will always those who disagree and voice their opinion – which they are allowed. 

We all have free agency to think of others or think only of ourselves and how the last year has affected us or our business or uprooted our personal lives without a thought of how it has been for others.  ALL OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PANDEMIC but not all reactions have been the same.  I for one like to believe I have become stronger. 

I suppose I am like the chickens to some degree.  I was okay with staying home.  I don’t wish to go back outside because I know it will never be what it was pre-COVID.  We’ve gone (or are going through) another evolution.  There’s always been hate, disagreement, hostility, etc.  just as there’s always been kindness, love, service . . . but it just seems more obvious right now.  It’s a matter of knowing where to look and choosing to follow your peers or the example of our prophets and our God. 

I had the opportunity of adding a “Vaccine” frame to my facebook profile pic. 

I know it will open a can of worms from some of those I am facebook friends with – none of whom I’ve defriended but have unfollowed many. I KNOW that not everyone feels comfortable about the vaccination for reasons other than feeling forced into it.  Some people have had bad reactions to the required vaccinations for being in public education.  But I also believe that the exceptions are few and far between.  I also believe in personal revelation.  I pray about major decisions such as traveling or health.  Prayer works.