When I was younger I worked for The telephone company (Ma Belle) in directory assistance. I prided myself on how many common numbers I knew from memory. Now, I struggle to remember my sister's number, but it is not simply due to age. She has a home phone and a cell phone and two addresses as well, just like nearly everyone I know. It is too much data to catalog in my brain so I rely on my cell phone to remember for me which means that gradually I know fewer and fewer numbers by memory. Since most people are no longer listed in a central phone book, losing my cell phone would mean losing touch with a number of people I don't see often.
Losing data, and the ability to remember without a techno assist, or worse, never learning to use your memory seems very sad for the human community. Stories and history, genealogies, songs and guiding principles were part of a vast collection of oral knowledge long before we of the present day were born. Yet in a few generations a large chunk of that knowledge could vanish if we lost access to the grid. What used to be stored in human brains is now stored in huge data banks that use an enormous amount of fossil fuel energy to maintain.
Yesterday three pullets came home to the chicken coop: a white leghorn, a spotted Plymouth, and a black sex link by breed. They were promptly named Jackie, April and Rosie. The two elder Australorps, Princess and Persephone, were not really thrilled especially when Jackie began bossing them around. The fence within the coop that was built to keep the new ones safe until they were accepted by their elders proved to be a waste of time since with Jackie's agile instruction, all three were able to fly over it in a matter of hours.
Chickens have been an essential part of human communities for thousands of years. According to Barbara Kilarski in Keep Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces,(North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2003)today's domestic chickens originated in Southeast Asia about 6,000 - 8,000 years ago, were domesticated in India between 4,000 and 3,000 B.C., and, likely came to America with the first European explorers.(pg. 32-33) Apparently Chicken knowledge within the human family is ancient. Yet I know only what I have picked up in the last three years by trial and error, by reading books and in an emergency, by searching the internet - unless of course my one chicken owning friend is at home. Even then, his knowledge is limited to his own personal trial and error experience.
For generations of explorers, settlers, farmers, and local families who relied on chickens for food and feathers, chicken knowledge was passed on through family and community conversation. Chickens? Everyone had them and knew what to do by osmosis. But I am panicky when Jackie begins chasing her elders. Is Jackie really Jack? Is that why she/he is so aggressive? How ever do I know, and what will happen to her/him if I have to exchange for a certified hen since roosters are not allowed in my part of the civilized world? How do I know when being broody is normal and when does it mean something is wrong? Red spots in the egg yolk? Why did this knowledge drop out of the general population that eats eggs and, gasp, those who eat chicken too?
Of course. That knowledge is no longer necessary for most urban people. But like telephone numbers on the cell phone, a day could come when the knowledge is needed but the information is lost.
My task for today is to memorize a few lines of my favorite Mary Oliver poem, but first I need to go check on April, Rosie, Jackie and their Aunties.
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