No. 787 - THE LEGACY OF RAUNCHOUS RED!

No. 787

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

THE LEGACY OF RAUNCHOUS RED!

If you grew up or ever spent any time on a farm, and have been around chickens and livestock, you will appreciate an earthy story I heard some time back.
One day this country woman was on her way to the henhouse to get some eggs and, about half way across the barnyard, she looked down and saw an orphan egg laying on the ground out there by itself. She reached down, picked up this orphan egg, put it in her apron pocket and went on in the henhouse to get the eggs. As she worked her way down the row of nest boxes, she got to thinking about this orphan egg, and decided she would place it under a setting hen, let her hatch it to see what she had there. Well, none of her hens would take it. Every time she would put it under a setting hen, they would kick it out.
Then she remembered a woman across the road who had an old blind hen, so she got in her pickup and went over there. They took this egg and placed it under this old blind hen. This old blind hen set it, and hatched it, and out came the prettiest little yellow rooster you ever did see. Over time this little rooster grew, prospered and did well -- and grew up to be the meanest, most hateful and fighting red rooster you ever saw. This rooster whipped everything on the farm. It whipped the dog, the cat, a coon, a possum, an armadillo, and anything else that came along. If it walked on all fours, this red rooster would take to, whatever it was, and whip it.
Even the farm bull came in to the barnyard with the milk cow one day, and red attacked this bull and put him back in the pasture. He was a fighting rooster. Because of his nature and penchant for fighting they nicknamed him – Raunchous Red. One day Red was parading around the barnyard in the bright sunlight, and a hawk began to circle in the sky. People who are raised on a farm know what a hawk will do to a chicken. This hawk made a dive, as only a hawk can do, and Red was not expecting any air attack. This hawk came down, hit Red in the center of his back and knocked him unconscious. Shortly, this hawk flew back down, picked Red up with those big talon feet and flew across a field and a little stream of water, and lit to eat him.
Well, a man was standing on his back porch nearby and saw what happened. He said he was not sure if it was the fresh air or the altitude, or what it was, but Red came to in flight. He went on to say that what followed was the longest, bloodiest and worst bird fight this county had ever seen. Red and this hawk fought for more than 35 minutes in this open field, and when they finished there was not a bush, a rock, a blade of grass or a stick in a radius of 35 feet that was not covered with blood, feathers and corruption. He said Red whipped this hawk worse than any living thing has ever been whipped. He went on to say that Red not only whipped this hawk, but he made this hawk fly him back over there to the barnyard. In the coming years local people talked about Red so much he would become a legend in this part of the country.
I hope you at least cracked a smile, because this was another one of those stories, told by the late Bob Murphy. The reason I have shared it is because we all need a break from time to time when we can regain our perspective and recharge our batteries. What is important here is that we should always take what we do seriously, but not take ourselves too seriously.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)