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Author: theMan
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Christmas Blue
A quirk of the calendar had me delivering eggs to Tweets Christmas morning. Seeing the snow on Chuckanuts made for a pleasant bicycle ride. The clouds hinted at possibilities of Christmas Blue. Around here, blue skies, even blue splashes at Christmas make the natives dance for joy.
Nina was out scratching a Christmas feast for her little ones. These chicks, born at the coldest, wettest time of the year are in for a surprise when the winter clouds give way to spring skies.
And here it is, Christmas Blue, tantalizing openings in the clouds. This time of year, it’s easy to forget in the Pacific Northwest that skies can be blue, that above the clouds there is still a sun that shines.
For Christmas dinner, fresh dark greens out of the garden. Blue in the sky, luscious greens out of the garden, what more could one ask for Christmas?
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First Snow
Yesterday morning brought a fresh surprise, the first snow of the season. Just a light brushing of snow here and there, but enough to bring happiness.
At the same time, a buttercup poked its yellow smile through the fallen leaves. Snow and buttercups on the same morning. A very special day.
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Great Expectations
In less than an hour, the earth reaches that spot in its orbit around the sun when the northern hemisphere starts to tilt back toward the sun and the days here begin to lengthen. It really is the start of the new year. The moment to have great expectations of what the next cycle of sun and growth will bring.
Madge’s eyes are full of expectations as she sits quietly, waiting to lay an egg. Nina is full of expectations as she scratches the earth for her two chicks. There is an intensity in her eyes as she spots something better for her two loved ones to eat. They are a week old now, and scurry at blinding speed around her feet. They are two inches of pure expectation.
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Even in the Darkest, Shortest Days
Even in the darkest, shortest days of the year, there is plenty of life. Chickens don’t hibernate in the winter. After a full day pecking and scratching, they gather at their favorite spots to gossip. Margaret is still raising her chicks, even though they are nearly as large as she. This is her second brood this year. Will she raise chicks next year, or will she decide that raising ten chicks is enough?
In the woods, fungi don’t stop growing. On this fallen log, they’ve spread their filament hyphae deep into the wood, and now they are fruiting, developing mushroom heads on the side of the log. Over many years, the fungi will eat the log until it disappears onto the forest floor. In time, it will nourish new trees, which will grow old, fall, and become fungal food again.
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Same Species?
You’d never think these eggs came from the same species of bird. The one on the left looks like a fairly normal chicken egg. The one on the right? What is it? The egg of a stork? It certainly doesn’t look like a chicken egg … and yet it is.
Looking at chicken eggs in the store, you would never know how varied they are. They come in infinite shapes, sizes, and colors. That’s what makes having your own flock of chickens such a joy, chicken eggs in all their glorious variety.