When I was 18, I met an inspiring individual on a farm near Freeport, Maine. His Name was Sylvester and he was a little bantam rooster.
As part of a flock of about 25 free-ranging chickens, Sylvester stood out. Most of the chickens were white, Leghorns. These are a large, American breed of chickens known for their stature. Not the most aesthetically appealing breed. But they produce big eggs and large drumsticks! There were three Leghorn Roosters, big white brutes. The flock was mostly made up of Leghorn hens and perhaps 4-5 bantam hens. And then, there was Little Sylvester. He was a scrawny runt, but colorful. Because of his distinctiveness in appearance, he was given a name. The other White Leghorns were just generic "Chickens".
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| Object of Love's Desire |
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| One of the Leghorn Mafia Enforcers |
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| Feather-Weight Champion |
Sylvester was a scrapper. He crowed a lot and strutted around like he was "Cock-of-the-Walk". Periodically, he would start chasing the hens , including the white Leghorn girls that towered over him. The three big white roosters did not want Sylvester scoring with their girls and would go after our boy and beat the living crap out of him! Tearing with their spurs, pecking and waving of the wings. Later, I'd see Sylvester with missing feathers and a torn and bloody comb. The big roosters would repeatedly tear at him ferociously. You could understand why Cock Fighting is called a "Blood Sport". It's not pretty what roosters can do to one another. But Sylvester wasn't fighting for the sake of combat. He was just a boy in love and had only one way to express it! Kiss the Girls! He couldn't help himself and would return to the fray at every opportunity.
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| Bloody But Unbowed |
Our Champion repeatedly looked the worst for wear. He couldn't help himself in his desire for connection and would rise up again from his battered state and return to the fray.
And the kicker is that when the white hens had hatched their chicks, the majority of the baby's weren't white! Lots of little brown chickee's running around! Sylvester produced plenty of off-spring. Persistence paid off. My friends and I all laughed about Sylvester's triumph in the game of life. As I recall, the white roosters ended up in the frying pan But Sylvester was too little to bother with. Perhaps he could have helped a soup's flavoring. But why do that to the little champ? Bloody But Unbowed, he lived on for several more years until a fox got him. Dead he may be, but remembered Decades later.
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The Story of Sylvester has always stayed with me. I've told his story periodically. Over time I grafted that chicken narrative to a couple other stories regarding Aspiration and Resilience.
Even before Sylvester, I had read in my teens several books with parallel themes by the Greek author, Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of Zorba the Greek as well as Report to Greco.
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| Anthony Quinn as Zorba |
Zorba was a Sylvester-like character, full of life, philosophy and passion. An Academy-Award winning movie was adapted from the book. Also a good musical theme. Like the rooster, Zorba was full of passion for living and taught the author to not dwell so much in Buddhism and trying to avoid pain. Rather, to embrace the pain and the joy and get on with life! Dance was a powerful metaphor. You must learn to Dance! Overcome inertia and fear and risk being considered a fool! Life is too precious to hide in the shadows. The Zorba in the novel was based fairly closely on a real man with the same sense of passion and adventure; An inspiration to the young Kazantzakis.
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| Robert Duvall as Gus McCrea |
The other character, fictional, was Gus McCrae in the novel Lonesome Dove. In Gus, Texas author Larry McMurtry created a sort of cowboy version of Zorba. Again, he is full of aspirations for love, connection and adventure. The novel was turned into a 4 part miniseries on American Television and was very popular. Texans embraced the story and it's become a sort of Texas Legend/Myth
I especially liked and identified with the Gus character because he was always talking, joking and reaching out. Irrepressible and not willing to back off because of advancing age. "The Older the Violin, The Sweeter the Music," he would tell the two women in his life.
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| My Frayed Copies of Lonesome Dove and Zorba the Greek |
So, the themes I draw from these three individuals is to keep reaching out, risking yourself both emotionally and physically. Be careful and think; but don't let inertia, fear and doubt hold you back. When you're knocked down, rest, recover and than rise again and keep going.
We will all die, so it is important to live life fully while we have the opportunity.
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