After the fox, some observations, some decisions. Fran is struggling. She did stand up but seems to me to be weakening. Maria thinks otherwise. Soon we will have to decide if she is suffering and needs to be released, or could use more time. Maria wants more time, and I agree, although she is always a bit wary that I am ready to put animals down too soon. This has come up before between us, and I appreciate the way we always end up in the same place. This is a difference that is healthy. The animals are protected – they get every chance, but don’t get too suffer too long. I don’t like to see animals suffer, especially for reasons that have to do with the well-being of humans. But she will get more time.
Lots of remedies, medication suggestions, ideas and anecdotes pouring in, but we are not taking extra steps beyond crating Fran, giving her food and fresh water and applying medicinal ointments to her wounds. Beyond that, life has to take its own course. That is the lot of the chicken.
Many people are messaging and e-mail suggesting Rose had a hand in saving the chickens, that her spirit was here. I know these are loving and well-meaning, but this is one of my boundaries and I can’t go there. Rose does not belong in this story, and she is not there for me. She is gone, and free to do her own work, and not mine. I don’t want to deal with the loss of something I love by pretending it never leaves. For me, that is going too far, a case of putting our own stories and wishes into the lives of animals. Of denying life to feel good. Rose was not a part of this story. She has enough of her own.
My daughter Emma left this morning. It is always lovely having her and Pearl here, but I could also see the different paths our lives have taken. She is not into fox and animal dramas of the farm and I could see was puzzled by it a bit and by the emotions it evokes. This is not the story of life of Brooklyn. Emma is wonderful, bright and fun and exciting to talk to. She is getting ready to move in with her boyfriend, an exciting time for her. She has taken the greatest care of Pearl and she has a special connection with Minnie, one of the barn cats. I have felt for a long time that Minnie is ready to be someone’s pet and that she is perhaps ready to come inside somebody’s home. This is not a good idea for me, but watching Emma and her, I had the same feeling when I saw this loving person with Pearl. I thought she could give Pearl a better life than I could, even in Brooklyn. And she did. We’ll see. Minnie needs one human, I think, not the role of being one animal among many.
The chickens are locked up, the .22 is loaded and ready. No sign of the fox today, but I think he will show up this afternoon. My telephoto lens is ready too. Frieda will spent time in the back fence on guard, and she will love that. Spring is here, and armies of ticks with them, one of the costs of a mild winter. Stay tuned.