From Knocker Uppers to Roosters

My brother-in-law, Tony, traveled to Bayawan City in the Philippines just in time to get stranded there during the present Covid-19 lockdown.

Funny thing.  He is happy there. 

Tony loves the climate and is near the ocean, which is a must.  The food is unusual and sometimes surprisingly good.  Most importantly, he has made good friends with many of the locals.  Conversations are interesting, informative, and often confusing in charming ways.

Now, let’s talk about waking up in the morning.  More precisely, waking early enough to seize the day.  Before alarm clocks were an actual thing, knocker uppers roamed the streets of Britain’s cities early in the mornings.  The knocker upper would tap a few times on the windows of the homes or apartments where those required to rise lived.  To rap on windows above ground level, a knocker upper might use a long fishing rod-like stick or even pea shooters.

In more recent decades, the knocker upper has been replaced by alarm clocks.

Back to Bayawan City.  That city, as most in the Philippines, is filled with roosters that overfill the early morning air with their crowing.  You can pretty much count on one of your neighbors having a rooster.  Tony has regularly been waking early in the morning to the sound of a rooster’s cock-a-doodle-doo.

Funny thing.  He likes waking to that.

Tony recently found a new place to rent.  The place has something of a yard.  Given that, he purchased a rooster of his own.  He named the rooster Foghorn.  He is pretty proud of his bird.  Posted is a photograph of Foghorn.

—Mitchell Hegman