Yesterday, February 4, was Risshun – 立春, the start of spring according to the seasonal calendar used in Japan. Yesterday’s sunrise, with clouds burning brightly, was fitting for the first day of spring

A sure sign of spring are the nine dozen eggs I took to Tweets this morning. The hens are producing twice as many eggs as just a few weeks ago. It’s time for soufflés and omelettes and raw egg on hot rice.

Maggie, tucked in her dark nest, and Special, on her bed of straw and hay, laid their eggs early this morning. Special reminds me of an art lesson I learned as a child, that red and gray go well together. She also has a distinctive voice. When she belts out, her loud cry makes you jump and yell, “What the hell was that!” Her voice sounds like a peacock on LSD. Her eggs are unusual too. They are slender and pointed. She tossed convention out the window when she was born. “I gotta be me! I gotta be me!” I think that’s what she’s saying when she yells.

See, Special’s pointed egg is nothing like Maggie’s round one. If you get a pointed egg, put your ear next to it and see if you can hear a special chicken’s cry.