Everything In Its Time

I live in sister towns whose total population is around 100,000.  We are definitely urban and yet there are small town aspects that stand out here.  I hear roosters crowing when I volunteer at one of the local elementary schools and there was a boarding stable for horses up the street from where my own children went to school in the eighties.  I have no problem with either one of those things.

Our town council recently issued a proposal that would allow up to four hens of certain breeds and require a $5 permit, an enclosure and a distance of at least 25 feet between the chickens and adjacent lots. Roosters are not allowed, and residents can not slaughter chickens.  There's nothing wrong with that, but I wonder at such specificity.  Perhaps they are just trying to avoid future problems, but that these things are so important brings to mind other things people seem to accept without question.

If a rooster crowing is a real problem, what about dogs barking?  Or worse!  I used to own a lovely home in a beautiful neighborhood and every weekend was ruined by the sound of gasoline powered lawn mowers and log splitters and weed whackers and radios.  One at a time, each one trundled out their noisy toy so that the entire day was polluted with the sounds of technology.  I'd be surprised if anyone heard a rooster crowing, let alone birds chirping, or the wind rippling through the leaves of the trees as these things whirred through our days.

Cleanliness and health is an issue, but noise seems to be part and parcel of community living.  The kind of noise that is considered acceptable, or offensive is an interesting phenomena. 

Then come the other no nos.  We were not allowed to hang clothes lines and play houses had to match the architecture of our homes.  Around five o'clock the smell of over used charcoal lighter filled the air until any sane person would go inside and turn on the air conditioner to escape it.  Everyone has things that they don't care for, but it seems to me that most of it just falls under learning to get along with others.

Now technology has developed to the point where we are interrupting movies and concerts, classes, weddings and even funerals because we have this undying need to connect with each other.  Yet I'm betting that many of these people with an uncontrollable urge to twitter, talk, text and connect all day, go home at night and instead of talking to those dear ones, who they are so attached to that Aunt Millie's funeral sounded like an arcade, plug into video games, computers and television. 

I want to shake them and say, "Now is the hour!  This is when you are SUPPOSED to connect.  Look at each other face to face, gaze into each others' eyes and talk!"