What Sound Does a Rooster Make?
Don Gerdts, 8/18/22
My wife and I arrived at our daughter’s house late in the evening after a long day of traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast. When we visit, we stay in their large RV parked on their property, our private little casita.
Due to the three-hour time difference, I was already awake around 5:00am the next day and contemplating life while my wife slept rhythmically next to me. Soon, as the first light began to creep up over the horizon, my thoughts were interrupted by a loud wailing nearby.
I remembered immediately that our daughter’s family had recently built a chicken coup with seven or eight chickens. What I now know is that they also have a rooster, which was crowing just a few feet outside of the RV!
The odd thing to me was the sound that this rooster made. It is difficult to try to describe this crowing. It was not like that of “regular” roosters. You know, all roosters cry, “Cockle Doodle Doooooo”, right? Well, not right if you ask my wife, who was born and raised in Peru. She’ll tell you confidently that the sound that roosters make is, “Kee Keerie Kee”! We joke that Spanish-speaking roosters crow differently than English-speaking ones!
My daughter’s rooster must be from some other place, because his cry wasn’t “Cockle Doodle Doooooo” or even “Kee Keerie Kee”. No, this rooster seems like it is trying to imitate someone who is cupping their hands over their mouth and saying something unintelligible in that resonate, echoey way.
I suppose that the sound coming from this rooster most resembles the sound of the unseen teacher’s voice in the Charlie Brown cartoons. Remember that? Maybe something like, “Wah, whan, wah, whan, whan, wah”!
These random thoughts led me appreciate the variety of God’s awesome creation. The mountains and forests and oceans, and the universe of stars. The billions of unique people with billions of unique cells. Snowflakes, none of which are the same. Over 4000 varieties of potatoes, just in Peru. And roosters that make all kinds of different sounds! God created planets and stars yet also pays attention to even microscopic details. God shakes the earth and contains the oceans, yet he has also adopted me as his son and lives within me in intimate relationship, prompting, guiding, convicting, comforting and helping. He is awesome! Praise the Lord!
Like I just read in Psalm 148:
“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being” (Psalm 148:1-5 NLT).
“Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord. For his name is very great; his glory towers over the earth and heaven!“ (Psalm 148:7-13 NLT).
