In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beast, and that from them, and from the stars and the sun and moon should man learn..all things tell of Tirawa.
Eagle Chief Letakos-Lesa Pawnee
We are all naturalists – some admit it and others try to pretend they are not. Denying any dependability on nature is just a figment of the imagination. If you don’t care about nature, nature cares about you. Our chickens shrug at this metaphysical fluff. When you are always right and you know all about what you know and what you don’t know (the mark of true wisdom), you arrive at a state of balance.
Chickens share this tranquility with their earth. People have just been told to question themselves – and there rests the problem. One way to “return” to reality is to pose this: “If humans are so above the workings and effects of the earth then why are they affected by the workings and actions of the earth?” Do floods and hurricanes avoid anyone who just ignores them? Chickens already know all of this stuff.
Your thinking is making me stupid
My chickens could write a book on this and so could yours’. Here is some advice for the birds and from the birds. What chickens want us to know:
1. Learn from what you see. Use the past, apply it to the now and hold onto it for the future.
2. Stop pretending nothing is there… because it is.
3. Wake-up, the roses are blooming and you can eat them.
4. Never stop looking for sudden changes, don’t tempt fate but don’t be chained to it.
5. You can’t choose your friends but you can choose to find their best qualities.
6. You are always who you are – and you are a part of the journey
Erasing the lines
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
John Muir
The best way to learn the unfurling and ever-meandering “way of nature” is to sit with your chickens. Spend the whole day with the birds. Spend days with the birds and don’t be the “keeper”. Be a flock member. Look at what the chickens look at, “talk” about what they are talking about (we all talk to our chickens – you know you do), be wary of sounds, smells and movement. React to what they are reacting to and become part of the ripple of information. Follow and learn the daily routine – do we dust bathe in the bushes in the morning and leave sifting the mulch in the back field until the afternoon? Watch as their daily events shift subtly with the march of the days. The 10 am dust bath slooowly moves to 11 as the days lengthen. Going to roost at night gets earlier and earlier as the days shorten. This is the JOY that we bird people have with our flocks. When the clouds stretch towards us we keep working. There is still time to forage. Even when the mists sift down we can still get a few more minutes in – but we will start walking towards the thick yew and the coop. As the clouds squeeze out their shirt tails we calculate distances and begin marching towards the sturdier shelter. So what if you get wet…you will dry. 
From the stoop we can preen the drizzle drops from our backs, smell the ground sigh with rain-soaked glee and reflect over the great worm eating to come. The work that we do is for ourselves and it happens to benefit the rest of the flock. It isn’t work, it is “doing” and that is a very different thing. It is “doing” life not watching it. Things are never misunderstood, they are just not ripe enough for thinking on yet.
When we spend time being in the flock wonderful things happen. We have conversations in real-time with deliberation. “Move your feet, I want to scratch there.” We act with purpose on things that aren’t on a grand scale but have tremendous purpose in that moment. “I HAVE to use the nest box – you can clean it later.”
When you work alongside your feathered guides the world around you becomes louder and more distinct. Follow several hens’ eyes as they lift skyward. Their bodies growing intent, their feathers tightening but then softening and without looking you know the hawk is overhead – but not too close. It is catching currents to disturb beings elsewhere.
“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”
Confucius
Others in this space
The flock is alerted to the rabbit that is building her burrow in the garden of Hostas. One hen squawks with indignation after finding one newly grown bunny lurking in the thick hedge of raspberries. A ring of birds struts with power and the determination of buffalo as they advance towards the intruding calico cat. Take on what you can and make the enemy think you can take on more than you can. Do this in numbers – as one drop of water raises the ocean – or chases off the cats.
How astounding is it to read the famous quotes of wisdom and perception scrolled out by the celebrated only to be startled by the words of Chief Letakos-Lesa Pawnee, as we realize what he said – the chickens already knew all that. Each beak uttering “duh, everybody knows that.”
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