Crossroads with Chickens

In 2012, McCagg and her husband, Carl built an off-grid, solar-powered house in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It was to be a weekend getaway for the writer (whats this pitchfork for?) and trombonist (a wannabe farmer). In December, with two cats and six newly adopted chicks, they drove up to Jaffrey from their home in Providence, Rhode Island, ostensibly just for the winter so their new pipes wouldnt freeze But their hen Rhoda Red turned out to be Big Red. Roosters are outlawed by Providence city regulations, so Big Red couldnt go back. Thus, writes McCagg, neither did we. Survival of the fittest. Natural selection. Soul evolution. We named our 193-acre home Darwins View for a reason. Chicken kerfuffles lighten the mood, but this story is born of heartbreak, of yearning for the great beauty of the world as it used to be. As she moves from full-time weekender to organic gardener, McCagg interlaces her tale with her mothers battle with Parkinsons, braiding both Mother and Mother Nature. Add the sun, the wind, and a cock-a-doodle-do, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm of personal growth rippling out to effect a larger transformation.