Being a kid in Delhi Ca. wasn’t such a bad thing. Like any place else, kids went to school, came home, did their chores, and their home work. My chores consisted of feeding the hogs, chickens, and dogs. We also had geese and ducks, but they were with the chickens. I also had to gather the eggs and water the walnut trees, and fruit trees.

We didn't have enough water hoses to reach some of the trees in the back, so I carried four, five gallon buckets of water to them. The only real hard part was those chickens. It seemed no matter what I did to fix the fence, they would find a way out. Everyday there would be at least two or three chickens out of the pen.

I was really getting tired of running these chickens down every day, but then again Rocky Balboa chased chickens, and he was a world champion boxer.

I got an idea to teach one of my dogs to catch chickens. I worked him with everyday. When I caught a chicken I laid him down, and put the chickens neck in his mouth, and had him to lightly hold the bird for awhile, then I would get the chicken and pet the dog, and tell him he was a good dog.

After a couple of days of this and he got the idea, I would see a chicken loose, and I would tell my dog, "go get it". He would chase the chicken and catch it by putting his front paws over the bird, and it's neck in his mouth. Now I could do my chores, catch the chickens that were loose, and actually have a little fun too!

The geese were another story. They ran loose because a goose will let you know if anyone is around, and our male goose got about half way mean. He would sneak up behind you and bite you on the leg or butt, and then he would turn and run.

Mom was hanging sheets out on the line one day, when that goose snuck under a sheet and bit mom on her butt cheek. Mom jumped and screamed. The goose took off running and honking the way they do with his head held high, and flapping his wings. There was a shovel near by and mom grabbed it, and slung it at the goose, hitting him in the head. The goose was flopping around and mom thought that she had killed him for sure.

He got back up and took off running holding his head to one side, as he was blinded by the shovel in one eye. That goose would bite anybody on the place but he left mom alone, “and these geese were dumb”.

By: James Grimes
4/14/09

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