Camden Yins, Rockland Yangs

What's new in my favorite complementary opposites within the greater whole?

In Camden voters have restored the town/country balance that for a few months, thanks to over-zealous prosecution, was seriously out of whack. Residents will once again be allowed (quoting VillageSoup) "to keep no more than nine small farm animals such as chickens and rabbits. Roosters are still prohibited unless the property owners have at least 2.5 acres. Owners will not be allowed to slaughter the animals at their homes and will be prohibited from selling eggs, meat or fertilizer from their animals. The pens will have to be at least 15 feet from abutting properties and cannot be in the front yards of the homes."

The long-suffering homeowner who precipitated the crisis expects a joyous homecoming for her 12 chickens (exiled to another town for the duration) as early as today.

I can't help but marvel at the precision of the ordnance. Ten animals would be too many. (What about the extra three chickens coming home? Into the pot?) Roosters are much noisier on 2.4 acres. At 14 feet from a property line, offending smells must be all too strong. I know lines have to be drawn and I accept that someone had to write up the ordnance and make some decisions, even though the mind that remembered to ban the sale of fertilizer along with eggs and meat is more Rocklandish than Camdenesque. I'm most worried that a definition of "front yard" is not given. Often in Maine you can't tell the difference between front and back, which I hope in the case of Camden's chickens does not result in further litiginous clucking.

While Camden concerns itself with its inner life, Rockland is looking to the skies. A new solar panel manufacturing plant inches closer to reality, with grants and enterprise zones clearing the way. In a way, I'm sorry to see classic capitalism failing. Shouldn't the need for such plants make traditional financing easy? Why does government need to step in to help? On the other hand, Why not? It's clear we haven't evolved far enough yet to affect our long-view genes.

Those panels won't do much good in foggy, cloudy Rockland. They'll have be exported to Phoenix or other deserts. But while we're looking for other sources of alternative energy, there are those chicken coops in Camden.