Bon voyage Rica. You were so sweet and timid, content with your position, no ambition, you showed grace, spirit and beauty from the bottom of the totem pole. I wish I had paid you even a bit more mind than I had but that thinking is futile now, and always... You had five beautiful years here, as free as you could be in a neighborhood like ours. You got to roam and wander as you wished, into the garden, across the street, through the neighbor's yard, and wherever else you found. The whole troop of you as a sight always warmed my heart and I loved the way all you girls dropped everything and came running when I yelled my customary "babies!" to you all. I filmed you all running at me once and put it in slow motion, it always makes me laugh and now it will make me a little teary. Some say that Chickens ain't all that, but they have not taken the time to get to know your kind. Would the Creator make anything that ain't all that? I think not. You girls have taught me so many things about life and I am forever grateful. In death my dear Rica, you showed me unprecedented grace. You showed me how to die with dignity and peace. It was strange toward the end not to try and help, as it was with my father, to just let you be and fall asleep into the Earth. You spread your wings and buried your face breathing into the ground until you breathed no more. It was all under the beautiful tangerine tree where the four of you have laid in the afternoons since you were young. You breathed in and out with sun shining on your golden feathers and then finally drifted off into the spirit world. Thank you Rica for touching my heart and teaching me big lessons. When my time comes I will remember your ways and seek to emulate them as I cross over when the time is right. I hope to see you there with so many other loved ones so we can all lie together under the big tangerine tree in the sky...  Goodbye for now sweet girl, goodbye for now....