The subject today is economics, particularly the economics of distribution. Who except the odd medieval historian knew that monks were good at marketing? For example, whenever we, a party of university students doing time abroad, headed north out of Grenoble, we'd try to plan a route that took us home past the Chartreuse monastery. None of us had much relationship with God; booze was another matter. What we wanted was a free nip in the tasting room. When you have no money, free is really something. No one much liked the stuff, but free was free. Here's the irony: I developed a taste for it and now pay good money for a bottle. Score one to medieval herb gatherers, grasping their way forward in the modern world. You see classic free market consumption when you give chickens new food. It's not exactly nature red in tooth and claw, the competition of the carnivore, but it's not polite either. I'm reminded of how we played soccer when first we were introduced to the game. The teacher chucked the ball into the middle of a clot of small boys and stepped back, inviting us to have at it. Wee bundles of energy, we ran all over the field, each trying to get our kick in; some of us made contact with the ball, others with a shin. Like that teacher, this morning I launched old toast and stepped back. One chicken grabbed the slice from the sky and tried to do a Gerald Ford, running and biting at the same time. He had better luck than the president; chickens are quick, and agile. But as in rugby, the prize eventually fell and another chicken scooped it up. Coming alongside like a jet tanker full of fuel, a third synchronized speed and took a fast food peck. A fourth then crashed into both. A fifth stepped on the downed bread and, colonizer on a very small island, crowed. Others clustered round, pecking. Young and strong, none faltered. They gobbled the island up. David Ritchie, Portland, Oregon------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html