Country Mailman and Chickens

Tune in every week to read about the adventures of Buck Buchanan, fictional country mailman, delivering mail out of Starz, Texas. He takes his job seriously and knows that customers count on him to deliver every piece of mail entitled to them. He is all about customer service. With a willing ear and a helping hand, Buck Buchanan goes the extra mile.

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Just as I lifted my hand to press the bell at Jersey May’s, the front door opened. I was startled, but she grabbed one of the three boxes in my arms and motioned me inside.

“Come see this, Buck. They are so cute!”

From the doorway, I saw the twins in the kitchen. Two babies looked up at me as they scooted across the wooden floor on their bellies. Something wasn’t quite right. I walked closer and saw the six month olds dressed in one-piece garments with some sort of thick, rough material between them and the floor.

“What are they wearing?”

“A mop! They are mopping the floor! Isn’t it great? And when they start crawling they can do the same all over the house!”

Jersey’s face was so energized that I had to nod in agreement. It was the same look my wife had when I walked in and she had tied rags to the kids’ feet and they were skating around the kitchen, cleaning the floor. These outfits looked to be a bit more professional.

“Where did you get those?”

“I made them!” she was still excited and clapped her hands in glee as one of the babies scooted several feet. “All I have to do is take them off and pop them in the washing machine.”

“You should market them,” I suggested, seeing the little fellows scoot vigorously.

“They are already on the market. I just took the idea and made my own to save money. I can make six for the price of buying one. With twins….”

She didn’t finish and I knew what she meant. Two babies cost twice as much as one. I deliver diapers every week and formula twice a month. I don’t know how the couple makes it on a deputy sheriff’s salary, but Jersey seems to be doing her part. The babies look healthy and happy, a bit dirty at the moment, but like she said…”pop them in the washing machine.”

Starz, Texas is home to several inventors. I stopped in front of the Nevin house to insert their mail in the box and pictured their son, Jim. He invented some sort of bearing used in oil drilling rigs and now when he comes to visit his mom and dad, flies his own jet.

Over on County Road 1375, Dirk Holden has a barn full of contraptions he put together for various uses. I haven’t seen any that work successfully yet, but the man has all kinds of odd ideas.

Sheila Moss might be the champion of weird inventions around these parts, though. They say necessity is the mother of invention and when Sheila inherited four little blue chickens from an Easter fiasco, she had to do something. Her grandchildren won the little birds at a carnival and when their mother threw a fit, Sheila brought the chickens home. They stayed in a cage in the mudroom for several weeks without a problem, but Sheila had no way of keeping them outside. Then they got too big for the cage. By now, the chickens were pets and had outgrown their blue dye, turning into surprisingly pretty red chickens. The problem was bird droppings, otherwise they were well-behaved. Sheila first tried newborn diapers, but they were too big.

I delivered bolts of cloth to her, and wondered if she solved the situation. When she began to bring small boxes to the Post Office as outgoing mail, I thought it a bit odd because her trips were regular. Then I started delivering boxes of the small mailing boxes. That’s when she showed me her invention.

She sewed small bags with waterproof inserts that had two adjustable elastic straps, fitting around the chicken’s rear end. They came in two sizes and various colors, mostly in a calico pattern. They were washable and reusable.

When I first saw her chickens walking around the living room sporting the colorful diapers, I was speechless. First, I couldn’t believe anyone would want a chicken for a pet. Second, I found it outrageous for a chicken to wear a diaper. Third, when I saw a chicken on the kitchen counter next to food, I had to leave the room.

But business and home life are different. Sheila found a niche that no one had tackled and in her online blog, happened to mention her chicken situation and showed a photo of the bird with its poop holder. It seems as if all kinds of people have a need for the little reusable diapers and she soon had a market that keeps her sewing machine humming. Now she has a website and I occasionally look at it, marveling at her foresightedness and business acumen. Presently, she is developing a duck line.