Chickens in the Backyard

The other day I opened my newspaper to not one, but TWO articles about backyard chickens. I sighed and once again cursed the HOA restrictions against poultry in our community. While having a snack that afternoon, I showed my five-year-old the picture of chickens that ran with one of the articles and explained what the article was about (the trend among jurisdictions to loosen restrictions against backyard fowl). Then she said something that absolutely floored me.

"We should write a letter!"

My initial reaction was to think, what's the point? I mean, this isn't a law, it's a home-owner's association restriction -- one we knew about before we bought this house. And who in a suburb like this is going to listen to the goofy crunchy family who wants to keep backyard chickens? And yes yes, that's all true and blah blah blah... but what would it hurt to ask?

I realized that she was absolutely right -- we should write a letter! We should ask them to bring up the topic at the next HOA meeting. And we should actually attend said meeting (something we have never done, ahem), and politely, respectfully, and convincingly make our case. Why not? What do we have to lose?

Once again the five-year-old reminds me to be true to my convictions. It's so handy to have a moral compass in the family.

So she composed a letter, and I helped her spell it. She was very proud to write the whole thing out herself. And now my task is to write a slightly more detailed letter to accompany hers, with a bit more explanation as to what we're requesting and why.

But really, I think her letter says it all, don't you?