Poultryphilia

Once I was riding an elevator car in an upscale residential building in NYC with a man who I knew to be, well, blunt in his assessments. In truth, he was a psychiatrist (but I was only visiting, swear). Anyway, a little elderly lady gets on, and she's holding one of those tiny, profusely hairy animals that some people call a dog. You know the kind, you can't see their eyes, and their weight is measured in ounces. The doctor says gruffly, "Isn't it amazing what people can love?" Being Southern, I wasn't supposed to laugh. Being appalled, I couldn't help it.

That memory sometimes comes to mind when I see something in which people take a bewildering pride.

Such as in these real photo postcards, where folks have posed for posterity with their favorite chickens.

Chickens.