That’s So 2020

The new neighbors moved in about a month ago filling our neighborhood with a new sound.  Each morning at about 7:00 a.m. they begin clucking like chickens and this continues for about 45 minutes, then silence until the next morning.

The reason they cluck like chickens is because they are chickens!  Our new neighbors brought with them a chicken coop and so, for the first time in my 53 years of urban living, I have my breakfast to the soundtrack of chickens in my yard.  I am unclear why they cluck so loudly in the morning; I know nothing about chickens except that B-B-Q is my favorite!

The chicken coop is located only 3 houses from the main thoroughfare of our town so each morning their clucking is mixed with the ordinary sounds of traffic, sirens, and distant church bells; the juxtaposition sums up 2020 perfectly.

2020 will forever be the year when the extra-ordinary was blended abruptly with the ordinary. The year of working from home, carrying masks and hand sanitizer everywhere and the year the chickens began to cluck during my breakfast.  

I now take comfort in their clucking; it has become familiar and homey. Even this morning I found myself smiling as their clucking filled my kitchen.  Similarly, there is a comfort I find in the wearing of masks and the use of hand sanitizer; I feel as though I am doing my part to end COVID-19 while also protecting myself and all those I love.

As Albert Einstein wrote, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” and certainly 2020 has been a test to both!

Blessings,

Rev. Heather McCarrel

The photo with today’s Blog was taken by Hannah Oliver and used with permission/Unsplash.