I was recently reminded of what lured me to return to Western North Carolina after many years working in large cities out west and overseas when I stumbled upon a charming exchange on Nextdoor.

A woman named Joan, whom I do not know, wrote, "We have a beautiful chicken wandering around our neighborhood, hopefully someone is missing it." A woman named Joy responded, "Is it white?" and added a link to an Asheville resident who was missing a white chicken that was also thought to be wandering around doing whatever runaway fowl are wont to do.

I love that, in a town such as ours, these thoughtful strangers didn't just let the ball drop and allow strangers' chickens to run hither and yon all willy-nilly and maybe get killed without attempting to be good citizens and help reunite humans with birds. Far from being passive, Joan took the initiative to write back: "Joy, no, it's not white, but we haven't noticed it around this afternoon, so hoping it wandered home. I hope they found their white chicken, though."

I love that thoughtful Joan noticed that she had not noticed the first aforementioned lost, wayward (?) wandering chicken that prompted her original post. I love that she still held out hope that the original lost chicken made it safely home. And I find myself moved that she adds her concern over Joy's mention of complete strangers being distraught over their lost, wandering, possibly wayward, but certainly beloved white chicken.

Eggs aren't part of my daily diet, but I appreciate chickens and the might they add to our soil and atmosphere. I love that I live in a community that has not quite gotten so big or full of itself as to completely disallow the keeping of chickens. I love that I live in a place where chicken-loving humans are so kind that I am moved to try to be kinder myself.

I'll admit that in the past, whenever I happened to see a lost chicken, my first thoughts often ran to Le Creuset cooking pots and recipes for coq au vin. But since reading the concerned words of Joan and Joy, I shall aspire to be a better and kinder citizen as we all work to rebuild and reinvent our gritty, chicken-loving town.