Strange but true department: Gabe had his Hebrew lesson today for the upcoming Bar Mitzvah. Zach and I usually walk around the neighborhood where his lesson is. Today we were walking and spotted a fenced yard with a bunch of chickens and Zach said, "Wow! Look at those chickens!" At that exact moment another chicken--outside the fence--popped up in the flowers right next to Zach and he said without missing a beat, "Wow, look at *that* chicken!" So this chicken started following us. And I was a little concerned it would get hit by a car. So I went to the door, rang the doorbell--no one home. At this point the chicken is out in the middle of the road. I walk up to the fence (where the "inside" chickens are totally freaked out that Harold--what I named him, though I don't if he was a rooster--was "outside." And I ask Zach, "What do you think will happen if I call him?" And I say, "Here, chicken," at which point the damned thing runs right over to me and sits at my feet. So I gingerly picked it up and placed it back inside the fence! I have never picked up a live chicken before--who says you can't teach a curmudgeonly old musician new tricks?
