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| Simplicity in the midst of complexity. |
It has been a long while since I’ve written, but I promise
to try to get back on track with a posting once a week. I returned to full-time
work in September, and in some ways found it hard to write about the hens. I
missed them, and it was difficult for me to think too intently about M&L,
the gardens, and the hens at home. Not writing about them was perhaps a form of
self-preservation. Or avoidance.
But as time has passed, I realize
that though I miss M and L, giving them a little more space for self-reliance
and independence is a good thing. I missed being there to pick them up from
school, but I really enjoyed heading off to work as well. Was it OK to be happy
to have that time away, doing my own thing?
I’m not
sure the chickens notice my absence. They still come running when I step
outside, which warms my heart, but as usual, they go about their business and
ignore me once I scatter scratch or give them treats.
Over the last few months, the
pecking order in the flock shifted and changed. Pearl suddenly seems to be the
low hen on the totem pole, with Clover hopping on her back and pecking the top
of her head from time to time. K says that Clover has had her fill of Pearl’s “Queen
of the Fair talk.” She earned a blue ribbon, but it appears that doesn’t carry
much weight with the ladies. Clover especially seems intent on being the boss
hen.
Luna, the fragile blue orpington
pullet we got in July, was still not walking well, and when I found her light
body in the coop one morning before work, I wasn’t surprised. Saddened, but in
a way relieved. I’d known it was coming and didn’t really want M&L to
discover her.
And so we
have a flock of seven, of whom only three seem to be laying regularly. Pip, the
Ameraucana, started laying her lovely blue-green eggs after I started back to
work, and has been very business-like about it. We have a nice steady supply of
her pretty eggs. Thelma and Louise, the Australorps, are laying fairly
regularly, so we typically get about two eggs daily.
The other
hens – Violet, Pearl, Clover, and Oreo – seem to be on sabbatical. They still
work industriously in the garden, picking the last bits of green from the beds,
taking care of any bugs or worms, and fertilizing the beds, but it’s been months since any of them produced an egg. K says it’s like they are all on chicken
social security. I know that in a more serious flock, they’d have been culled
for stewing, but I can’t bring myself to do so. They are more than a food
source for us.
They are
touchstones, and their personalities and quirks fit together. I sometimes get
home early enough to visit them in the evening. And on weekends I sit down for
a bit and just watch them, and it is a meditative act for me. They go about their usual business. And that calm
and continued routine brings me balance. I do love my job, but I can still come
home and spend time with M&L, connect with the hens, and putter around the
coop. Chickens are good for grounding,
for centering, and they lend richness to life with their simplicity.
