Belvedere... Searching for that sweet Belvedere.

One of my most favorite parts of the day is that refreshing morning walk down to the barn. Hijeevey and the other free range boys excitedly run to greet me every morning. Watching them run to me ALWAYS makes me smile. There is something so special about a happy chicken running in your direction. Seriously, if I ever get a camera I will film a video, then you will see the gratification! Guaranteed to make you smile too!

This morning was no different... Ok, well, slightly different.....

As soon as I stepped with in their line of vision they ran towards me. Our adolescent Buff Marans rooster excitedly stopped in his tracks, and proudly spit and sputtered his first cock-a-doodle-do. Then he continued to proudly run towards me like a child delightfully seeking praise from his mother. Although, it didn't sound like much, (sounded more along the lines of a old rusty weedeater struggling to start), it just melted my heart to pieces! And o boy, was he ever proud of himself!

Its tradition around here not to name a rooster until he has his crow. Typically if he makes it to full fledged "manhood", that means he is going to be a keeper.

 So at that very given moment, it just came to me.... Our little Buff Marans rooster receive his name, Belvedere. Later I looked up the meaning.  Belvedere, meaning beautiful view.... and so it is... was and will be... 

Its weird here on the farm. One minute we are making decisions such as whose going in the stew pot and who we are are keeping. Then next minute we are praising the mile stones in the lives of our livestock as if they were a part of a human family... Which makes me wonder.... It makes me think that its quit perverse to categorize things into these little subpods of importance or lack of.... Society made the label; good, bad, important, unimportant....  Defining success and happiness simply by the way ones life is filed/categorized/prioritized. But by doing so we have lost all the connections to living.... its not all about the subject but its the threads that link it to another! Its not about point A to point B but all the gray that falls in between. How can we see the beautiful picture when the arrangements are neatly place in a labeled box? Where is the view in that? 

So I guess I am saying...
Dump out the groupings and subtitles...
Forget about what others are saying...
Forget everything that you were ever taught of success...
Take the Leap...
Do what brings a smile to your face...
                   And  ALWAYS keep your eyes peeled for Belvedere....