Wednesday, February 11, 2026

What the actual cluck?

We made it to our appointment.

Traffic is always a nightmare when we head into West Knoxville, but we made it without too much trouble.

Badger finally got some answers.
Along with autism, she’s dealing with some new things they’ve found.
She’s an adult, so I’m not going into it. But I hate that she’s stuck dealing with all of it.
All of it is hard. I just wish life had been kinder to her.

After her appointment, we went to Cracker Barrel.
We were hungry, so it seemed like a good bet. 
We don’t go very often, so we didn’t realize they weren’t even serving lunch yet. 
Badger wanted chicken, Cowboy wanted pork chops, and I was already thinking about meatloaf. 
Instead we got pancakes and biscuits and gravy.
Nobody was happy about it. 
Oh, well. 
At least we weren’t hungry when we left.

We came home, Badger disappeared into her room, Cowboy settled down for a nap in his recliner, and I went to the bedroom and took a nap.

I was sleeping rather soundly when an angry knock came at the front door.
I let Cowboy handle it.
He said some strange woman, mad as a wet hen, was complaining about our chickens pooping in her yard and just pooping everywhere.
Cowboy told her they weren’t our chickens.
Our chickens are always penned up.
We don’t allow our chickens to free range.
We actually had the police called on us about our guineas a long time ago, so our poor birds are kept in a very large enclosed pen from top to bottom.
We’re not the only people who keep chickens in the neighborhood, but we’re the only ones who don’t allow them to free range.
She stomped back to her car and drove off.
If it had been me at the door, I’d have walked her to the backyard and shown her exactly where our chickens stay.

I get why she was mad.
Chickens poop where chickens want to poop. 
I don’t really think they have much control over their butts.
It’s nasty and probably some kind of health hazard.
I’m not sure why she chose us to yap at though. 
Maybe she saw our pen from the road, or more than likely the stupid roosters crowed when they shouldn’t have.

Today was a safety meeting day, so Cowboy was out the door by 2:20 p.m.
That always messes with my sense of time.
After he left, Badger and I walked around the block.
That breakfast was sitting heavy.

We came home, and Badger headed to her room. 
I sat in the living room with the cats. 
I played on the computer, and they chased birds through the window.

Badger came back out around 6 p.m., and we watched TV together until 10, when she finally called it a night. 
It’s been a long day, and I think I’m ready to head to bed myself.

3 comments:

Sandra said...

I'm sorry Badger got some disappointing news. She is fortunate to have you.
Approaching someone with raging anger is the last way to act if you want actions. It may not be your chickens but it was Cowboy who had to deal with an angry person. Calm, purposeful and to the point will get much better results.
It's good you two are able to get out for a walk.

Sandra said...

I meant to wish you a happy birthday, Jane.

Jane said...

Sandra: Thank you for the birthday wish.
Badger got some new diagnoses to go with her autism. They aren’t disappointing so much as they’re just hard. It’s more she has to carry, and I hate that for her.
Thank you for saying that. I do my best for her, even if it doesn’t always feel like enough.
Looking back, I don’t think my husband should’ve opened the door to that woman. You never know these days, and she was pretty riled up about the chickens. She woke him up, so he was still in that calm, fuzzy place between asleep and awake, which probably helped keep things from escalating.
We enjoy our walks. It’s always nice to get out of the house.
I hope you have a great week.