My Daddy Rooster

Do you know anyone who had the magic to create happiness?

My father’s career was as an English professor, but he had so many other talents and an unending curiosity about many things. His voice was beautiful and he was athletic in everything he played–and he played EVERYthing…weightlifting,  swimming, jump rope, and a popular Chinese game called Jianzi, which is like a hacky sack with a shuttlecock of real feathers. Watching his fancy movement patterns was pure joy. 

He spoiled me too, always bringing me snacks when he came back from work. Even if it was just a handful of roasted peanuts, it tasted like a gourmet meal to me. 

He was my hero.

When I was eight years old, he asked me if I’d like to hatch some chickens without a hen. 

“How can we hatch chickens without a hen?” I asked. 

He gave me a mischievous smile. “Using light bulbs,” he said.

His answer turned on my own creative light bulb. Ever since then, anytime when I feel I have no clue about how to do something, I tell myself, “Turn on your light bulb!”

Father bought some fertilized eggs from the farmer and we started the 20-day hatching process. This required constant care. We had two large 75-watt light bulbs hanging a few inches above those eggs and a large thermometer keeping a constant  40-degree Celsius/104-degree Fahrenheit temperature. At the end of each day, we took the rolled paper and put the eggs in front of it so we could see them against the light, assess the embryo growth, and eliminate the rotten eggs.  

On the 15th day, we put all the eggs in warm water. Some of the eggs started to swing, just like they were nodding their little heads. We eliminated the eggs with the dead chicks, which of course lay sadly still. 

On the 19th day, some of the little chicks broke their shells and wet little chicks came out. Pretty soon, they became fuzzy little hairballs in many colors. No matter what age you are, newborn chicks are so cute.

My father told me that the chicks need to have a Dad who can protect them against wild animals.  

A Daddy Rooster? My small head raced. How?

My father soon answered my question. He brought a big rooster from the farmer’s market,  neutered the rooster, and gave him a shot of strong liquor. The rooster became so drunk for more than 4 hours, and we put all the baby chicks around him and when the rooster recovered, he was the unquestioned father of these chicks. For the next few years, these chicks became much bigger, some even bigger than their rooster dad. However, he always fought for his big roosters and hens as if they were still his babies.

My father and I even built a three-story chicken coop. The top floor was for hens to lay eggs, so that wild animal wouldn’t take away eggs. The bottom had wire racks for chickens to sit on so their manure could drop on the floor without soiling their beautiful feathers. 

Taking care of these chickens became my responsibility. These were the only pets I ever had other than goldfish so I took my job seriously. These chickens would sit on the floor when I approached them and loved to let me pet them. 

That single batch of eggs resulted in a lot of pets for me and a lot of eggs for our family, we also make a few Jianzi for the neighborhood kids using colorful feathers from our roosters. But the years went by, and eventually, the hens were no longer producing eggs, the roosters were too old and crowing in broken voices, and the only contributions they made were as my pets.  Because of my emotional attachment to all of them, I would not allow them to become our dinner. 

During that time, my father was going through the lowest point of his career as he had been sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. He probably was depressed. Even in that difficult period, I saw how my father had the magic to bring life from light bulbs.  He still created happiness in my childhood and proved to me that a positive attitude, imagination, and creativity can produce happiness.

He gave me the courage to take on many life challenges and career-low points, still trying to bring happiness to the people around me.  More than anything, he taught me the value of being curious and always having a light bulb eternally shining in my head. 

Elizabeth

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