Musings

Recently watching Shannon's chickens strut through her yard, scratching at the earth, pecking at the occasional bug, made me yearn to have chickens. I remember how much fun it was experiencing the hens brood, watching the roosters try to corral their "ladies", the sweet little "peep-peep" of fluffy little chicks in the spring, gathering warm freshly laid eggs & selling them for 50 cents a dozen. It brought back such fond childhood memories. Then I shook my head and stepped back into reality: Slipping & falling in oozy, rain soaked chicken-pooed mud, mice in the feed barrel, reaching under an unhappy, clucking, pecking hen to gather her prized egg, finding the occasional soft-shelled egg that felt like Silly Putty, stepping with bare feet into cold, gross poo hidden among the blades of grass....The spell was broken. I think I'll just visit Shannon's chickens from now on.