Which came first?

I have a precocious nine year old going on forty. When he was a wee bit younger, my son Stephen, the Minion Blur, used to bombard me with mind-numbing must-be-a-guy-thing chicken jokes, like: Where do tough chicks come from? Hard-boiled eggs...

During my lunch break, as I squat in the shadows of burnt out trees on the edge of a quiet, dirt mountain lane, I found myself thinking of my hubby and kids while curiously satisfied to observe the pecking order of a family of chickens. It is a subtle art, their ability to yield way, and you have to watch carefully to see it slowly emerge during their subtle ballet of feeding etiquette. It is a ballet of solemn business as they leisurely and daintily stroll around downed power lines, melted communication cables, scorched rocks, ash covered gravel and the charred remains of county poles worthy of a Dark Arts Exhibition.

Betty Lewis wrote something interesting about chickens that I found myself taking to heart as I prepare to return home to the Space Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross: "Chickens are social birds who enjoy the company of their flock. Despite their sociability, they maintain a definite hierarchy in their flock. Chickens work out their pecking order to determine who eats, roosts, drinks and mates first. A peaceful flock has a well-established pecking order, though birds sometimes challenge each other to move higher."

I find myself thinking some mountain people are a lot like chickens. I am glad, because the thought actually warms my heart. I am especially proud to have had the opportunity to spend time with and serve the residents of Middletown, California on my first Red Cross national deployment. Despite the horror and destruction surrounding some of your lives, I have seen you carefully band together, putting your children first, sharing what you have while struggling to embrace what peace you can find, one day at a time... carefully stepping around debris marring your lovely, occasionally charred, devastatingly wonderful little gorgeous mountain town...

I hope to see you again one day. Looking forward to your before and after pictures...