Friday, February 05, 2010

Again I am wrong about something

This is the tiny frizzle hen that inspired me to buy Owen a frizzle hen last fall. Owen's black frizzle was ugly, miserable, and cantankerous and a rogue dog killed her a few weeks after we brought her home, which was almost sadder than if she'd been nice.  This one looks like a fluffy chrysanthemum with a little chick face sticking out, and she's very sweet.

I had misgivings about yesterday's 4-H visit to the retirement home because it struck me as patronizing. Just because people are old, doesn't mean they want to sit around and watch show-and-tell with scraggly barnyard animals. 

Oh, but they did. I was so wrong. When the 4-H club arrived, there were about 20 people waiting in the lounge, pumped for the show, wheelchairs drawn up to formica tables.
 
Each of the kids made a brief (or, in Owen's case, meandering) presentation, and then brought their animal around for residents to meet and admire. 
It went on for about an hour, and by the end the kids were no longer shy, everyone was chatting, the animals were running around, and there were a few moderately amusing mishaps. I don't want to get corny about the healing power of animals/the rightness of generational mixing, but it was an unexpectedly lovely afternoon. 

12 comments:

  1. My goodness. That rabbit disapproves of me looking at its long, long ears.

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  2. I was always embarrassed when my grade school bell choir or Girl Scout troop went to perform at a nursing home. I felt like *I* was the show and tell item, and not a very entertaining one at that for people who had probably gone to the opera or to jazz clubs in their day.

    But for people who like animals, just seeing and touching them will always be a good show.

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  3. I wish I had been made to interact with elderly folks more in my childhood--I think it's good for kids to learn to not treat them like a foreign species.

    The home our neighbor is in has a huge fluffy white dog that has been there ever since it was a puppy, and it is universally beloved.

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  4. That rabbit is huge! It could definitely eat my fingers for lunch. Now I kind of want one.

    Too bad I'm allergic to rabbits. (And all other fuzzy animals.) :(

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  5. i love your blog, lurked but never commented before now. anyway, i think you should remove the comma after "again" -- to clarify that you're not reiterating "i am wrong about something" but are wrong yet again.

    the chicken is amazingly cute but at the same time disconcerting, a little reminiscent of something from oryz and crake.

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  6. What a wonderful event. I know the elderly yearn for 2 things: animals and children. and here they are together.

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  7. owen is so cute and a great ambassador. also, i like his hair cut. his eastern grandpa

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  8. interesting article. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did anyone hear that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.

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  9. great read. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you know that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.

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  10. Anon 7:48,
    Commas are my downfall.

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