The Delight of Furry and Feathered Things

 Each morning before breakfast I go out to the back yard and release the chicks from their chicken coop. There are 22 chicks, 20 are black or brown and then there are, what I like to call, our 2 token white chicks. In the evening I secure them into their coop to keep them safe from racoons and creatures that roam in the night. The chickens seem to realize the importance of sheltering in place at night because when I go to tuck them safely into their coop they are already inside all snuggled down. Come morning they are through with confinement and ready to spread their wings. They come flying out in a great flurry of feathers in jubilant embrace of their new found freedom. The chickens do not take their freedom for granted but continue to be surprised by the opportunity to spread their wings. It is a joy to watch these little sentient beings embrace freedom each morning as if for the first time.

 I got this flock of chicks from the local feed store in the middle (who knows where the middle is?) of this quarantine. In the 40+ years I’ve lived in this home I’ve had chickens about three quarters of the time. For the past few years this operation was shut down due to rats. During the time of no chickens I’ve been building up the coop, bit by bit, as the money and labor became available. The coop isn’t perfect, I’m sure rats can still get in there, but it’s time for some new life so it will have to do.

 My daughter followed a similar impulse to affirm life through life during the quarantine by getting a bunny rabbit. I watch her walk around the house with the bunny in her arms like he’s a rag doll. She preens him, cuts his hair and lets him hop about in her room as she works from home. In the morning she puts the bunny in with the chicks in the chicken yard and they all hop about together. It looks like Easter out there. When the bunny is deposited in the coop he scurries and leaps, intoxicated by his freedom. The chicks aren’t exactly delighted to see him enter their yard, but they tolerate him. Thankfully, their memory is short and after the initial flurry they just go about their business as if the bunny isn’t even there.

 The emotion of delight has been delegated to the young and the simple minded-or it has been dependent on very specific circumstances, such as a vacation or falling in love. But we human’s hunger for delight. Advertisers are well aware of this hunger and use it to sell us cars, underarm deodorants, kitchen gadgets and loads of other things we don’t really need. They are offering up magic beans, and since we’re hungry for delight we buy the beans. But delight can’t be bought and sold. It’s free and it’s everywhere. We just need to remember how to find it. The chicks and bunnies of the world lead us on an Easter egg hunt for bright, unexpected moments of delight.

 The thrill of delight starkly contrasts with the darkness that is predominant these days. The unveiling of systemic racism, entrenched corruption, greed, cruelty, incurable illness and economic uncertainty, bring fear and anger which consume all other emotions in their path. Those in power use, or manufacture, each new crisis to keep us from focusing on the damage they are doing, the money they are stealing, the people’s lives they are degrading. We start thinking that darkness is all there is. The darkness conspires to have us believe that happiness is a fool’s errand. In the midst of this darkness and uncertainty delight becomes a revolutionary act of defiance.

 Because darkness is born of unhappiness, happiness destroys its dominance. That is why it’s so important that we arm ourselves with delight during this time of darkness. Each one of us will find it hiding under different rocks. Maybe we will find delight in a garden or a tomato from the garden or a worm on the tomato from the garden. Maybe we will find delight in the rustle of the wind through the bushes or from a great conversation with a friend. Maybe we will find it in a tree outside our window that houses a family of pigeons or a sprinkle of rain. Maybe we will find it in a flurry of feathers and fur or remember it while looking into the eyes of a child (children and dogs are great teachers of delight). There are many places to find delight. When we find it suddenly our world lights up, if only for a second, and darkness diminishes. After enough encounters with delight darkness loses its dominance. Once the darkness is laid waste by the light we sweep up after the demon’s drunken party. Then we dance.