Settling Back In
Cluck, cluck! Things have finally settled down again.
We knew they would.
Humans always seem surprised.
There were holidays.
Suitcases.
Garden parties.
The dogs disappeared for a little while.
Then they came back.
The chairs went back where they belonged.
The garden became quieter.
And the humans started saying things were "back to normal."
We've never really understood that.
Nothing ever goes backwards.
Everything simply finds a new rhythm.
Things have changed in our flock too.
Ginger has settled in beautifully.
Nutmeg is still a little more sheepish, but we rather like that. She watches first, thinks it through and only joins in when she's satisfied everything is exactly as it should be.
A sensible approach, if you ask us.
Earlier this summer, Shadow appeared to have quietly taken charge of important chicken business.
She'd probably have denied it.
Pearl might have said leadership doesn't need announcing.
Misty would simply have pointed out that everybody followed Shadow anyway.
We suspected there was something in that.
Things have changed again since then.
There are four of us now.
Pearl.
Misty.
Ginger.
Nutmeg.
Humans seem terribly interested in who's in charge.
We have considerably more important things to discuss.
Breakfast, for example.
Earlier this year there were four of us.
Then there were six.
Then there were five.
Now there are four.
That's life.
One morning there happened to be a particularly large, fluffy cloud drifting above the coop.
Of course we noticed.
Funny, that.
Charlie has returned to quietly watching the world, as he usually does.
Elsie still greets every day with a wag, a wiggle and the firm belief that something exciting is probably about to happen.
She's wonderfully optimistic.
What we've noticed, though, is that both dogs settle much more quickly these days. That's no accident.
The humans have become remarkably consistent.
Russ always was.
Mike has caught up rather nicely.
Dogs appreciate that sort of thing.
Humans often underestimate just how reassuring their own consistency can be.
We've heard the people over the fence gently asking their dog to "settle."
We hear it quite often.
It always makes us think.
Settling isn't something you ask for. It's something you help create.
It grows when life becomes predictable.
When routines become familiar.
When leadership becomes consistent.
When everyone knows where they belong.
That's true in a flock.
It's true in a family.
And, from what we've observed, it's true for dogs too.
Mooby still insists he notices everything.
Bless him.
He has one windowsill... and we're fairly certain he sleeps through half of what he claims to observe.
We have the whole garden.
We'll let you decide who sees more.
Sharp eyes.
Sharper beaks.
The Girls That Gossip (Pearl, Misty, Ginger & Nutmeg)
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