Freewrite 1, Week 6

In my father’s kitchen, perched on the checkered, cigarette burned tablecloth, perches a glass rooster, won at a local fair. The rooster stands two feet by one, two glass talons glazed to one another, softened by air and artist. Base to breast, the rooster is filled with spiced peppers—bell or habanera—each color bleeding like feathers to the next. When planting peppers in Georgia, plan two to three months to mature. Like me, most peppers require a fair amount of space. They need room to blossom and set fruit. Groom to ward disease and wireworms. They won’t tolerate frost and bell produces less fruit than hot, but look like kindergarten finger-paints. When raising a rooster, provide a few hens—no more than eight. Allow plenty of feed, water, and space. Stuff with bell peppers to soothe indigestion. Pride on kitchen counter as morning lights the kitchen. Eat around centerpiece during Salisbury and corn--roosters are social creatures.