Coop:
Noun - A structure to house poultry
Example "Put the chickens in their COOP"
Around here "heading out to the coop" is a fairly common saying. Its synonymous with "be back in an hour" or "I'm going to unwind" or "I really can't people right now".
My coop has played an important role in my life over the past few years. It was the first project that my then boyfriend, Don and I worked on together. We built it from the ground up. It was not always smooth! Lol it took longer than anticipated but when it was complete it would withstand any predator (and most natural disasters!) I learned that my guy was thorough and he cared.
When I saw him saying goodnight to each little fluffy butt on their first scary evening in their new big coop I knew I had a keeper.
Sitting in the coop talking to the chickens has been my thing ever since. It's my place to think or to just go blank and enjoy watching the chickens live their lives. Not every memory from the coop is a good one. I've held many dying chickens in that coop. I've found some dead with no warning that anything was wrong. At first that made me feel so inadequate that I hadn't noticed and I felt that I must have missed my opportunity to fix them. I've realized after many years that you cant always cure them and the best you can do is to feed them a healthy diet, with lots of clean water, exercise, love, sunshine and a safe place to run to. Which, ironically, is the best you can do for yourself as well.
One cold December evening I was in the coop tending to a sick chicken. I was feeling guilty that I hadn't noticed her because I hadn't been around much. I'd been with my dad as he wasn't well. Don came out to the coop to get me. I could tell from the look in his eyes that something horrible had happened. I said "No, I'm not leaving" because I knew that when I stepped out that door my life was going to be different. As I stood there in the coop holding a chicken Don told me that my dad was gone.
A year later, when I quit my longtime, pack a day smoking habit and I was craving a smoke I would head to the coop. The smells there were more intense than when I had smoked. Dirt, wood shavings, dust, chicken food and
all mingled together. My little slice of heaven. A few deep breaths and I had the strength to get past that urge.A couple of years ago I got home from work and Don told me that Miss Kitty -one of my older girls-wasn't doing very well. As I rushed to get my coop boots and coat on I was firing questions at him to try to determine what might be wrong. Is she fluffed up? Is she moving around? Have you seen her eat? Poop? His answer to everything was "You'll just have to look at her". I was more than a little annoyed with him by the time I got to the coop and flung the door open. There was Miss Kitty standing in her Condo cage looking very healthy to me. I turned back to Don and he said look closer. There, hanging from a ribbon draped around her neck was a ring. I turned back to him again and he was on one knee.
And so the happy memories in my coop layer onto the sad ones and make them bearable and they all turn into a thread that weaves my story. For me "coop" is not a noun...its not a person, place or thing...
Coop:
Verb - a state of being
Example "I coop to be happy-coop on"
