Mr. X in his prime

Our noble rooster Mr. X passed away on November 14th. We almost lost him the week before Christmas last year so the past ten months were a gift. Arthritis was his major problem. His last year or so was a quiet one compared to his previous 14 years of traveling around the country visiting nursing homes, garlic festivals, friend’s homes, and fourth grade classes. His last public appearance was at a local garden club where he nobly sat in the crook of my arm for a half hour as I lobbied for the 2008 California Proposition 2 to free millions of chickens from their inhumane cages. I wanted the audience to experience chickens as sentient beings that we should not abuse. In that short time the members got to know and love him as we did. He even nodded when I told them that he didn’t like cold French fries, only hot ones, and that he’d never met a dog he couldn’t dominate.

As I walked through the audience with him he patiently let them touch his glorious feathers and to feel how warm he was. And of course, he didn’t poop on me, much to their surprise. But then he never did poop when you held him unless you didn’t pay attention to his squirming-I-want-to-get-down warning.

Mr. X in his final days with Cathy

The house feels empty now. I still listen for his faint crow I would hear from the garage every morning. I miss him waddling up the walk after me. His walk through the house to go to his dog carrier in the garage every night, and his constant excitement and clucking when I offered him a handful of cantaloupe seeds or some lettuce leaves from the garden. And of course, the neighborhood children miss his cock-a-doodle-do when they would come to visit and feed him. This gorgeous chicken has left an indelible mark on his part of the world and will be remembered in all our minds for decades to come.

I am now at the Hawthorne ranch in San Luis Obispo, California. It’s a part of our yearly tradition, where we meet up either in Los Altos or on the Central Coast for several days of festivities- usually including copious amounts of food, and a careful mix of traditional family recipes and adventuresome forays into novel culinary ground.

The turkey is in the oven, pies have been made, and Mr. X the rooster was just taken out for a walk. Our beloved little bird hasn’t been feeling well lately, so he was supervised closely during his stroll with someone making sure he didn’t fall over.

Here are Noah and Sierra doing some PT work on the chicken as the rain storm cleared up a little bit.

He was fed some worms dug up from the garden:

Settled into the bushes to rest:

And then joined us by the Christmas tree. Here he is with Sierra.

While having a rooster as a pet is admittedly a bit novel, he is such a blast to have around.

Mr. X seems to be doing a little better. Relaxation on the ranch has been good for him. Merry Christmas to everybody, and again, feel free to check back with the blog and watch it develop these next few days.