I have already hinted at how much I am enjoying my current NYRB book, Alice Herdan-Zuckmayer's The Farm in the Green Mountains. She is such an engaging writer and I love reading about Vermont in the 1940s through the eyes of an immigrant. I have learned how they came to Vermont and how they decided to settle where they did. I've read about how they celebrated Christmas and now she is painting a picture of that titular farm. This isn't just a picture postcard cozy farmhouse that city folk take over and inhabit, but the Herdan-Zuckmayer's literally turned it into a working farm.
It all starts with a hen and a duck, and reading about these first rather eccentric animals puts me in mind of Stefanie's (at So many Books) Dashwoods! You wouldn't think chickens could have such distinct personalities, but it appears they very much do. In this case it is Elise the hen and Gussy the duck who are the first of what will be many farm animals. Elise actually belongs to a neighbor, but soon will be acquired by the Herdan-Zuckmayers.
"In one of the huge modern chicken houses was a chicken that appeared uncommonly miserable, thin, and haggard. It was not being attacked by other hens, but as soon as it wanted to go to the feeding station they made a game of forcing it away."
"'It will die,' explained the owner. 'It is a healthy chicken, but it can't survive here'."
"'Can I buy it?' I asked. 'I'd like to begin with a difficult chicken so that I can get used to having difficult animals before we get a flock'."
"'You don't need to give me more than fifty cents for it,' said the owner. 'It doesn't lay eggs because it is too scared. But there is also a duck,' he continued, ' that you can have for nothing. She is too tough to kill and eat, and she disturbs the entire duck pen'. Thus we got to know Gussy, the antisocial duck."
***
"Elise blossomed. She made up for everything which had been denied her in communal living. After three weeks we had to put her on a diet so that she wouldn't burst."
"Later, when the regular farm hens arrived, she held the top position in the chicken house. She was, so to speak, the headmistress and assigned nests, perches, and feeding spots to the newcomers. She was not intelligent, but her mental capacity fit comfortably in the chicken community."
Apparently Gussy's case was quite different. Gussy was a bit of a shrew but she turned into a very independent mother duck. Somehow somewhere I feel like there is an important lesson to be learned in animal-keeping. Sometimes it's thought humans are so very superior, but I think watching the animal world can be a little like looking in a mirror! It's just as entertaining to read about the animal dynamics in this book as the human dynamics. And I swear I came across a reference somewhere in this book (and maybe a few other places outside the book, too) that Vermont has a fair few eccentrics.
Maybe that is where I need to go next!