I don’t know how many of you grew up on a farm. I did not, so there are certain things about rural life that truly escape me. One of the things I enjoy the least would be Monsieur Coq (aka, the Rooster). Le coq is terrific choice of farm pet when wanting to make Coq au Vin, or if you truly enjoy being rudely awoken at dawn every single morning. Let me repeat: Every. Single. Morning. However, I would assume that most prefer to sleep through those wee morning hours and rise peacefully, post-dawn, like me. In that case, Monsieur Coq is a real pain in the you-know-what.
We have two here. Last time I checked, a rooster is not required to get eggs from your hens (sorry guys, don’t mean to make you feel unneeded, but in this case, you are). That’s right, those lovely—and quiet—hens get by just fine on their own, producing tasty eggs without any help whatsoever. And nothing beats a fresh, free-range, organic egg. A farmer would choose to have a rooster only if he wanted baby chicks. If not, that fellow is just for decoration (he is handsome if I do say so myself) and a rather boisterous annoyance. Lately one of the roosters has taken to giving me a little ditty every morning under my window. I hastily don earplugs and a large pillow, but I’ve already been woken, so what’s the point? My slumber disturbed, I fitfully try to get back to sleep. Very pleasant indeed. Thankfully it has been a quiet week with few social or work engagements, so the disruption has been kept to a dull roar.
However, after being rudely roused by a rooster over and over, it is hard to think of them as anything other than dinner, but I must resist. They are not my fowl; they do not belong to me, so I guess I just have to chalk it up to another oddity of living in the Provence countryside. There are so many unusual occurrences, it’s hard to list them all, but often, it’s part of the charm. Only on occasion is it annoying.
On the bright side, this weekend my very dear friend arrives for a week in Provence. It seems that the guests are now arriving in earnest, and I am truly looking forward to it. I love sharing my strange and wonderful life here with people I love. There will be lots of eating, drinking and general merriment. Or so I hope. The weather has been insanely hot, and promises to continue like that for the next week. We will stay cool sipping chilled rosé by the pool. Life could be much worse. One must always remember to keep things in perspective.
