My supportive family. Corporate Retreat 2004
back: Mom, Greg, Elizabeth, me, Lauren, Aunt Diane, Dad, Grandfather
front: Stephen, April, Julia, Joshua, Rachel
When I got the phone call just one week ago telling me to remove the chickens from my yard ASAP I never could have anticipated the effect it would have on my life, my family's and the community . Never, ever! Yes, my incredibly loyal and supportive friends would say all the right things, but to have people in the community that I barely know stop me and say, "good luck with your chickens" gets me every time. They are, after all, just chickens.
But apparently they're not just chickens - or pets even - they are rights and regulations and common decency and all kinds of things to all kinds of people.
The emails have been pouring in. People I don't even know are writing to the lease committee. Many positive, productive conversations are happening.
I am blessed with a wonderful family. Naturally when this happened, I let them know right away. Actually, they've kind of made fun of me over the years with this whole chicken thing. I know it's weird - it's one of the reasons the birds appeal to me. If they were dogs - they'd be Poodles and I am definitely not a Poodle person (no offense intended - just personal preference). So, I assumed they would humor me while I was sad and life would go on.
Then my mom came over last Saturday to take pictures for the lease committee and told me that my dad was really bothered. She said it was keeping him awake. When I checked email I found that he sent me a message at 4:oo AM with his thoughts on the matter. He supported me! He didn't find me frivolous OR in violation of my lease.
Now the plot thickens... My father was in the administration at the University for over 30 years. He was a policy maker. He is well admired, knows how how things work and thinks in terms of the best interest of the University. For these reasons, his support gave me a whole new way to look at the situation.
My lease is in my parent's name as well as mine. We started brainstorming...
Behind the scenes, my brother Stephen and his wife April were positively irate. They had been calling and emailing with ideas - obviously giving the matter a huge amount of thought. Their 10 year old son Joshua announced his intent to write a letter of complaint. April set me up with the bog.
Meanwhile back at the ranch (not really, you saw the pictures) - the chickens were getting a lot of attention. Chickens love attention. It makes them quite friendly - except for Chloe, she's still very confused by being a star. Stephen, April and their children came over one evening equipped with cameras, sound equipment and a nice bottle of Chardonnay. Stephen is a professional adventure photographer http://www.picturestoryblog.com/who's work takes him to the most remote places in the world. At home we rarely see him with a camera because he needs to separate himself from work. April works for National Geographic, their 10th anniversary is on the 4th and they're going to Guatemala the next day. It's not like they have a lot of free time.
My sister and her husband are in Colorado working the Denver angle.
As I implied, we're a close family, but the way we have come together on this issue is unprecedented.
The emails have been pouring in. People I don't even know are writing to the lease committee. Many positive, productive conversations are happening.
I am blessed with a wonderful family. Naturally when this happened, I let them know right away. Actually, they've kind of made fun of me over the years with this whole chicken thing. I know it's weird - it's one of the reasons the birds appeal to me. If they were dogs - they'd be Poodles and I am definitely not a Poodle person (no offense intended - just personal preference). So, I assumed they would humor me while I was sad and life would go on.
Then my mom came over last Saturday to take pictures for the lease committee and told me that my dad was really bothered. She said it was keeping him awake. When I checked email I found that he sent me a message at 4:oo AM with his thoughts on the matter. He supported me! He didn't find me frivolous OR in violation of my lease.
Now the plot thickens... My father was in the administration at the University for over 30 years. He was a policy maker. He is well admired, knows how how things work and thinks in terms of the best interest of the University. For these reasons, his support gave me a whole new way to look at the situation.
My lease is in my parent's name as well as mine. We started brainstorming...
Behind the scenes, my brother Stephen and his wife April were positively irate. They had been calling and emailing with ideas - obviously giving the matter a huge amount of thought. Their 10 year old son Joshua announced his intent to write a letter of complaint. April set me up with the bog.
Meanwhile back at the ranch (not really, you saw the pictures) - the chickens were getting a lot of attention. Chickens love attention. It makes them quite friendly - except for Chloe, she's still very confused by being a star. Stephen, April and their children came over one evening equipped with cameras, sound equipment and a nice bottle of Chardonnay. Stephen is a professional adventure photographer http://www.picturestoryblog.com/who's work takes him to the most remote places in the world. At home we rarely see him with a camera because he needs to separate himself from work. April works for National Geographic, their 10th anniversary is on the 4th and they're going to Guatemala the next day. It's not like they have a lot of free time.
My sister and her husband are in Colorado working the Denver angle.
As I implied, we're a close family, but the way we have come together on this issue is unprecedented.
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2 comments:
Your girls are an inspiration (not to mention your artistically cute coop :-)
I can send you the City of Decatur ordinances if you don't have them already -- the director of the community garden in my neighborhood sent them. The garden has goats, bees and chickens. Very cool -- Oakhurst Community Garden
Cheers!
Anna
Hmmm, I feel for you on this. It bothers me from a number of aspects. What ever happened to our ability to control our own private property?
I have been considering some backyard chickens and I think that my city will allow it (haven't fully checked yet but they do allow my bee hives!) but I am concerned about my homeowner's association. I actually think that once the homeowner's association has a limitation in the covenants will will never be removed and they interpret their definitions in any way that benefits them. I found out on another issue that the courts & legislation has swung so much in their favor that has virtually no protection from the home owner's assocation.
Do you have any comments on how to deal with the home owner's association. By the way, they don't know about my bee hives that I have had for 3 years because I don't trust their reaction if they knew.
Hang in there, I'll pray for you.
Will
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