Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Chicken Aerobics

In boot camp I had a lot of down time. I had down time because the Navy saw fit to place me in a drill company. A drill company was a company of recruits that provided entertainment for the graduation ceremony. Drill company recruits played in the marching band, were members of the flag team, and threw bayonet clad rifles in a rifle company. When we were not practicing our respective duties we were allowed to hang out, while non-drill companies marched relentlessly.

I learned an entertaining game in boot camp during this down time. It was called “Grinder Ball.” A “grinder” was a large, open, cement lot where companies practiced their marching skills. The ball in “Grinder Ball” was a peanut M & M. The players were pigeons. We’d sit on the patio next to our barracks with a bag of M & M’s and roll them one-at-a-time into a flock of pigeons. The pigeons would chase the M & M in an attempt to eat it, but the candy was so large that a pigeon couldn’t get it in its mouth. With a peck the candy ball would shoot across the cement, and the pigeons would fight in the avian equivalent of rugby. It was fun to watch.

One of my boot camp company commanders wanted to know how I was placed on a drill company.

“What instrument do you play?” he asked.

“I studied piano in my senior year of high school,” I replied.

“Piano?” he asked. “There aren’t many pianos in a marching band.”

“That’s probably why I’m in the rifle company, sir,” I observed.

It wasn’t like I had any choice in where I attended boot camp, or what I did once I arrived. I went where I was told to go and did what I was told to do.

Major Havoc and I recreated grinder ball this morning with blue berries and chickens. We sat on the patio and rolled blueberries towards the birds. They raced to be the first to catch the little ball of fruit. Our chickens don’t like to swallow whole blueberries, so there’s a bit of a tussle when they pick apart the fruit and eat it in two bites. One bird will pick up part of the blueberry and race across the yard while the others follow in vain hope of capturing a meal. I need to Google “chicken aerobics” to determine whether or not this counts as exercise.  But the boy thoroughly enjoyed himself.

(Neither chickens nor pigeons were injured in the writing of this blog.)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

HILARIOUS, plain and delightfully hilarious.

Do y'all now have purple chicken poop all over the place? Inquiring minds want to know.

Anonymous said...

Your blog always brings a smile to my day. Love reading it :) And now Im curious about the purple chicken poop... Please keep us informed haha

Oklahoma Granny said...

Like L. the first thing I thought of was purple chicken poop. Having lived in an area where there are mulberry trees that's just the first thing that came to mind.

TobyBo said...

LOL. That's all. Just LOL.