Pencil, greetings, curiosity

I like my pencil with an eraser at one end. Press the eraser-end and you extend the lead. Twist the barrel and the eraser extends.

The style of greeting seems to be changing. I've noticed it for some time. A passing neighbour today says: Hullo, Joe. Are you alright? I reply "Yes. You?" Sometimes people say just: "Alright?" to which one smiles or nods and replies: "You?" Not so long ago, the more usual exchange used to be "How are you?" And regardless of the facts:" Very well, thank you? How are you?"

The houses round here are mostly Victorian or of an earlier period, have small gardens and are close together. Curiosity, meanwhile, is an ailment of someone looking for interesting or beautiful things. Through a hedge, I spot something unusual. It looks like a life size sculpture of a big, brown chicken. It moves, and I realize that it is a live chicken; it walks with the jerky, acquisitive, movement that birds have when they are on the lookout for worms.