Yesterday’s respite from the daily storms revealed a wet, blue world. Many fields have turned into duck ponds. Swans are having a field day romping in all the mud. How do swans stay so clean when they spend hours wallowing in mud?
Month: December 2015
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It’s a Wet, Blue World
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After the Rains
After the rains comes the rainbow. After the rains the trees are left stranded in the overflowing slough. When they see their reflection in the glassy water, do they ooh and ahh, saying, “Oh my, am I that beautiful? Look, that man is taking our photo. Which of my limbs is the most beautiful?”
After the rains comes a sky, bluer than before. After the rains, Margaret decides that it’s time to sleep on the roost again with the other chickens. Her chicks aren’t sure what to make of it. Why is their mother up so high? Why aren’t we sleeping in our usual bed? After the rains, the whole world changes.
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Only 13 Days – The Excitement is Palpable
Margaret’s chicks are as excited as I am. It’s only thirteen days until the days start to lengthen here. On December 21 at 8:48 pm Pacific Time (December 22 at 4:48 am Coordinated Universal Time) the winter solstice occurs. The sun will reach its lowest level in the northern hemisphere and from that moment, it will start rising higher in the northern sky.
The growing pullets are excited too. More and more of them are starting to lay eggs. They seem to be trying to outdo each other by laying the greenest, bluest, most pointed, most round, most whatever egg a hen can imagine.
Even the kohlrabi are flush with joy. This is what kohlrabi looks like at dusk, after days of wind and rain. It’s survived weeks of deep freezes, and yet it springs back, sweeter than ever. You won’t find a better, happier, midwinter food than kohlrabi.
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Tail Dragging Day
Today was a trail dragging day, rain from the get go. You know it’s raining a plenty when the roosters are dragging their tails on the ground. There are plenty of places they could go to be dry, but they would rather be outdoors, even if it is raining. It takes a downpour for them to seek cover. They do look sad, dragging their wet tail feathers behind them.
The next time it is raining all day, you can say, “It’s raining so much, the roosters are dragging their tails.”
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Ruffle a Few Feathers
The wind blew all day long today, ruffling feathers and keeping the chickens in the brush. They’ll brave getting their feathers ruffled for sunflower seeds. On a day like this, they are glad they aren’t birds of the sky, getting tossed here and there by strong gusts. There are advantages to lying low.
That’s Hazel on the right and Cognac on the left. Cognac used to lay eggs with chocolate brown shells. She’s too old to lay much anymore, but she can still poop, and as long as a hen can poop, she’s worth having.