While it is not uncommon for a Vermont woman to raise chickens, it is undoubtedly rare that a woman not only studies their interactions and behavior and sits down to write a play.
“Pecking Order” by Bobbi Rood, Waitsfield, was accepted and produced for the 2024 TenFest held in August at Valley Players Theater and starred the author. She majored in anthropology in college and her time with the Peace Corps in Africa gave her new knowledge and insights. Her years as a parent, teacher, guidance counselor and clinical social worker allowed her windows into human behavior. Her chickens, she observed, display both the best and the worst. Bullying and quest for dominance are traits evidenced by her “cluckers” in the 10-minute play.
How did The Valley become home to this chicken-raiser and action-dynamo? Meeting Mac Rood in college, later brought her to Vermont where they raised two daughters and together made significant contributions to enhancing life in The Valley. It is not uncommon to see them out directing traffic at a Valley event or advancing the development of affordable housing.
AVENUES TO EXPLORE
While they often collaborate, Bobbi continues to find her own avenues to explore. Soon to complete her first three years on the Harwood United Union School District School Board, she will run again. She says she cannot leave midway on what needs to be accomplished. She urgently wants to help people, especially local seniors, understand the workings and the needs of the schools and to bring a balance to the board. She feels she offers a calm demeanor and the wisdom of having spent so many years in local education as well as being a parent of two daughters. Her other elected position, far less stressful, has her serving as a Waitsfield Justice of the Peace.
Writing has become a large part of her life since retiring from a nearly 20-year career in counseling having earned a Licensed Clinical Social Work degree in 2007. The degree allowed her to work in elder care services with Washington County Mental Health and claims it was her best job as it was a perfect match allowing her to age into her present position. She loves writing poetry, which she has enjoyed since high school, and periodically attends a writing group and is a member of the American Poetry Society.
ENHANCE SPIRITUAL SIDE
In the last few years Bobbi has been on a very personal quest to enhance her spiritual side. The 2016 anti-Semetic acts that occurred in Vermont led her to reclaim her Jewish identity and to understand more about her faith. Her search spurred on by a fervent desire to illustrate the goodness of Jews and to promote understanding, led her to intense Hebrew lessons and study. She was raised by parents and grandparents who, while not schooling her in the letter of the law, taught her that helping others and concern for humanity and nature were paramount in their faith. Now, the undertaking meant learning a totally foreign alphabet, harsh and often guttural sounds and reading from right to left as well. “It was and is so hard,” she stated. She has learned to read the most sacred and ancient texts of the Torah and stands before her temple congregation to do so. She is inspired by a story of an Iranian teacher who taught rug making. His students were taught to leave an imperfection in the finished rug to teach them that no person is perfect. When she makes a mistake, she forgives herself and moves on.
A recent ride to Stowe with Bobbi as a passenger, allowed a further look into her life and deeds. The Iranian philosophy served her well when she described setting out to make a costume for an upcoming Civil War play she says will be fabulous when performed at the Joslin Memorial Library next month. She downloaded a pattern, secured fabric and cut the pieces only to have the result be huge and requiring a redo. She later found the instructions on an overlooked page and could only laugh.
On a more serious note, she said she needed to read us a poem as we traveled that she had written overnight in response to a question her rabbi had posed the day before. He asked each person to reflect on a person who was a source of love in their life and how that person’s love made them feel. Bobbi called to mind her loving father and his belief in her that she could do no wrong. His love always allowed her to feel cherished. After sharing her very personal and profound work we felt moved and privileged to hear her words. Not long after, on a different note, she asked if we could stop at Kinney’s to pick up a prescription for a friend she had taken to a medical appointment in Berlin the day before. A few miles later she lamented that the person who had said he would buy the violin she had hoped to learn to play did not show up before she left. She added that Mac, in particular, was hoping that this would be the end of that item on her bucket list. Her last request was to get back home by two for an appointment she promised a graduate student who needed to interview a social worker.
Going forward, she has hopes of finding more time for cooking, bread baking and sharing time at home with Mac. It is truly a challenge to unpack all the layers of Bobbi Rood but also easy to see her life is meaningful and creative and reflects her wish to honor her faith by serving others. One thing is certain — her father was clearly on to something!
