By Brenda Cannon Henley
Canton, located in the heart of Cherokee County, Georgia, is just about 40 miles from the big city of Atlanta and about 90 miles from Chattanooga in neighboring Tennessee. According to statistics found in the 2010 census, more than 30,000 people call Canton home. Its location, at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is a beacon attracting young couples, growing families, and modest retirees to come visit and perhaps call the area home.

The Etowah River meanders through town and it really is a picturesque setting for life. At one time in its history, mulberry trees were imported and planted hoping to put the town on the map as a silk producing market. When that endeavor did not work out so well, cotton production came front and center, and the area’s first cotton mill was up and running by 1901. By 1923, a second mill producing denim, was added to the growing scene.

Along with the mills’ production and jobs, some dairy and poultry enterprises were popping up, and the land around town has always had small farms, gardens, and livestock and poultry, often tended by family members as food sources, pets, and just for fun.

Rosey, the well traveled chicken

My son, who lives in Florida, took his family in his nice road worthy RV to visit in-laws living in Canton. He parked the RV on the family property and left it there for a few weeks. Enter Rosey, the traveling chick. Rosey liked the privacy of roosting under the carriage of the RV and made herself quite at home there. No one paid much attention to the family hen coming and going and living life.

When it came time for the family to collect the RV for the return trip home, bags were stowed away in compartments or put inside the vehicle. Goodbyes were said and the family was on its way traveling south through the state of Georgia.

Reaching Valdosta, GA., it was decided that the family was simply too tired to make the last leg of the journey through to Largo, FL., without a good meal, showers, and sleep. Rooms were secured and necessary bags were taken inside. The family reloaded the RV and headed out after breakfast the following morning.

Stopping for fuel at a large truck stop gave everyone the opportunity to stretch their legs and reboard for the final miles. Arriving in Largo in late afternoon, the family removed their bags and possessions and were taking them into their home.

Lo and behold, all were shocked and absolutely speechless when Rosey came strolling out from under the RV looking over her new surroundings as though she were pretty proud of her adventure. Mind you, Rosey had not been inside the RV. She had been sitting underneath the RV on a part of the undercarriage. She could have left at any point during the 517.8 mile trip. All night in Valdosta while the family slept, she stayed on her roost. When the family had stopped for fuel or food, Rosey hung tight.

She arrived safe and sound in Largo, and seemed rather unruffled about the entire matter. Now, the story of my son catching her on his lawn is another funny experience to be told another day. The hen was safely transported to the home and coops of Chuck Black, a renowned chicken expert, of St. Petersburg, FL.

Black is a member of our church and my personal friend. He and his late wife were judges for many state and regional fairs and other competitive events in the world of chickens. He has been breeding, showing, and judging winners for more than 30 years and has between 30 and 40 chickens in his home coops at any time. He is considered an expert on any phase of the life of chickens and I found it is an interesting world indeed.

I said, “Chuck, how is it possible that Rosey survived that over 500 mile road trip?” He laughed and said, “Chickens are not dumb. In fact, they are very smart.” He explained that since Rosey had been roosting in the undercarriage of the RV, she felt safe and was comfortable. She just did her thing, however dangerous it might seem to me. He asked, “Do you know what one of a chicken’s greatest strengths is?” I did not. “When caught off guard or in an unfamiliar situation, unlike humans, they do nothing. They just sit.”

Give that some thought. Most of the time, we humans over react. We make poor or unwise choices because we jump. We don’t wait on God or the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and we get in trouble.”

I have decided that for 2021, I want to incorporate Rosey’s perspective into my life. Don’t intend to be lazy. Plan to work hard. Do my job. Volunteer. Lend a hand. But, not to jump. Be consistent. Stay put.. Don’t fear. Enjoy the ride. Who knows where I could end up?

By the way, Rosey stayed for a while at Black’s coop in sunny Florida, then was properly boxed up, and flown back to the airport near Canton. Pretty neat little vacation for a country chicken from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia.

Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at 409 781 8788, or
[email protected]

[Dec-28-2020]