Attack!

So my trip finished with a change of rental car, then a rooster attack, then multiple flight delays. But it was still fabulous!

It took an hour, but in the end, they opted to trade out the car. And when I got it back to Burlington Airport, they credited me a day's rental. Everyone was really nice, and I appreciate the way they handled it all in the end. Augments my faith in humanity.

My last morning on the farm, while feeding the calf, a rooster attacked me. I thought it was just his feathers that got me, but Bob saw it all and told me that no, roosters launch themselves and get you with the talons on the back of their legs. Sure enough, as I looked around -- remember, I'm bottle feeding a very active and hungry calf at the same time, who was having no interruptions of her breakfast! -- I see blood on the back of my leg. It actually wasn't bad -- he did draw blood with one talon, but the second missed and his foot imprinted. (And four days later, a good friend informed me that she could see the yellow bruise still.)

Bob told Lee, and when Lee found me next, she said, 'Don't worry, he's dead.' Needless to say, that wasn't really my intent. However, he'd been acting oddly, and apparently once roosters start to attack, that's the sign that the end is near. They get a lot of kids and families at the farm, and if the rooster went after me, who'd been around for a while and with them too, well, not good. So about ten minutes later, I'm going to get chicken feed, and I hear this sqwak and feel this whoosh. Bob heard it too, and came around the corner yelling, 'Did he do it again?!?' He'd tried, but since I was moving, he missed. Bob then said, 'That's it, he's dead now,' and proceeded to begin chasing the rooster around the stable with a big net. I was sent off to feed the chickens in the other henhouse, and when I returned, Bob had caught him. I then got to watch the neck wringing. Not pretty, of course, but I understand how the cycle works, and felt it was important not to shirk from it. Sad.

And then I started getting notifications of flight delays. So I had lots of time in the airport to sit and read. And think about how great a trip it was. The quarry was incredible. I loved the farm (and they wanted me to stay!). Vermont is so beautiful. The weather the last two days was more stunning than I had even hoped for. I'll look forward to going back, and in the meantime, will load some photo essays.