Some Thoughts...

I have been wandering without a true creative outlet for some time now... it was right in front of me all the while... just write!
Most recent thoughts to ponder are two...
Chicken Integration & Family Feuds
First the Chickens:
Our three laying hens have a beautiful custom hen house and two to three hours a day of open yard free ranging. They enjoy being held and talked to. The down side is that they are several years old now and have ceased to produce eggs. I guess they have become pets for the remainder of their time on earth.
Our neighbor girl enjoys farming and animals of all types. She and I got three new chicks about three months ago... two for her and one for me. After about 6 weeks I tried to integrate my chick with my older hens... it didn't work out. The older hens were intolerant to the change. The chicks stayed at the neighbor's house till yesterday.
Yesterday we put the three chicks (now three months old) in the pen with the older hens...
It is now about 24 hours later but we still have drama. Last night before bed my husband and I went out to check on the hens to find the young hens huddled together outside in the corner of the hen yard... while the older hens were perched comfortably in the hen house for the night. We picked up the outside hens and put them in the hen house... it was very cold outside and I was concerned that they would freeze. There was a lot of squawking but no big movements. This morning I woke to find the young three in one corner of the hen yard and the older three in the other corner of the hen yard... even after I fed and watered them they remain apart... unwilling to mingle at all. I sit with my cup of coffee as I watch and wonder how long this will go on...
and what will be next???
As I log on to the computer and diligently check "Face book" as I promised to do on a monthly basis (I have a low tolerance for the "communication orgy"of it all)...
I stumble onto a battle of opinions between some of my younger family members and older family members...
ohhh goodness we are just like the chickens!!!
The younger opinions in one corner of the hen pen and the older opinions in the other. Sometimes the generational difference in perspective creates an impassible canyon between people who otherwise might really have a close relationship.
Personally...
I feel like I live right down in the middle of the canyon... or if I were a chicken I guess I would be sitting on top of the hen house between the two cornered groups.
I have a foundation in and a nostalgia for the ways of the past... but have empathy and some understanding why the next generation sees the world the way they do. I don't fit in either corner comfortably for too long.
An Example:
Yesterday I opened a CD that I had bought as a holiday gift for someone dear to me. The CD is nostalgic and wonderful... Alan Jackson made a special album of Old Gospel Hymnal Songs. I was immediately back in my youth...singing with mom and my brothers as we rode in the car together... singing with grandma as we made dinner or worked in the garden... or singing next to my other grandma as we sat together in church on Sunday.... what warm and wonderful times those were for me. If only I could bottle that feeling to use and share as needed!
I love being in the "older generational corner" in this way!

My comfort is less when considering rigid strong beliefs in what is right, just and accurate... as opposed to what is not... these fundamental views have been passed down through the generations and have some origin in religious scripture. The older generation desperately seeks to save the younger generation from themselves in this new "free range" world.
I guess I see the younger generation like wild, free-spirited Mustangs... creative, full of life, full of energy, passion and full of their own ideas and opinions. My heart breaks to see a "broken spirit" but... my heart breaks to think of others as anything less than my neighbors in Heaven... Kind of puts one between a "rock and a hard place". I guess my challenge has been one of modifying communication tactics and avenues to reach the hearts of both the older and younger generations. Communication, communication, communication... what to say, when to say it, how to to say it... the younger generation is far removed from the old way of "do as I tell you because I know best... comply respectfully"... they are certainly an "unbridled challenge" when it comes to penetrating mutual respect and meaningful communication. As I advance in years and in public opinion progress from the younger generation to the older generation... my greatest challenge remains meaningful, respectful communication with others. I try to share my perspective and ask others to please consider my views and file them under my views in their minds and hearts. I try to reinforce the quality of my messages with rationales for my perspectives... so that they can be validated logically.
At this stage in my life, I choose to minimize engaging in challenging debates with others over "right and wrong" (except for my twin 8 year old boys)... it drains me and in my experience closes the door on creating a "mental file" for good future reflection. My thoughts and views are just that... mine alone. Sometimes others are immediately of like mind... sometimes not... but if I can make a quality "mental file" that person may "pull it out and review it later"... the choice remains theirs... sometimes it can be difficult and new relationship boundaries have to be negotiated... I respect your choices as yours to make, and I know you respect my views as mine... it is OK to be different... I care about you for you... I love you for you... but due to our differences in opinion, and out of mutual respect for that, I am sure that you understand when I cannot participate in...

"Little T" my young hen just flew over the fence of the hen pen... leaving the other hens in opposite corners inside the hen yard...

Maybe this is symbolic...