Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get around me and my dog as we were walking down a street on the West Side, of course. The chicken was going from one house to another and decided that it wasn’t going to wait for us to pass by. Instead, it nonchalantly chicken-danced its way out onto the road, around us, and back up onto the sidewalk before disappearing down a driveway.
Last week we saw a couple of hens just sitting on a sidewalk that refused to move as we approached. My dog almost suffered a nervous breakdown, thinking that the birds were inanimate objects, until closer inspection upon which time they moved, striking the fear of God into my four-legged friend (who had never seen a chicken up close and personal).
It’s not uncommon to hear roosters crowing when strolling around the West Side. It’s also not unusual to see penned chickens. But to actually run into the birds basking in the sun on a sidewalk? Now that’s a bit different. Might we start to see some chicken crossing signs in the future?
It just so happened that not far from the chicken sightings, another unusual object of interest caught my eye. This time it was a makeshift work of art (probably from the Bike Pageant) that had been fashioned to a tree. As I examined the creation, I discovered that it was a loose interpretation to The Wizard of Oz. There were ruby slippers adhered to the pedals of the bike, and there was an oddly familiar basket on the back… “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!” A small house with a couple of crushed witch’s legs completed the picture… now the nearby chickens were even more fitting as images of a Kansas farm began to swirl around in my head. I must say that this was one of the more interesting walks that I have taken as of late.
Now all we need is a yellow (or red) brick road… oh, don’t even get me started! Can Andy Rudnick come back and play The Wizard?