Fresh Eggs For Sale - in approximately 24 weeks

I got a call from the Post Office here in Chatfield Monday morning and I heard "Carol, your chickens just got here!" We live in downtown Chatfield, so Rachel and I ran to the van, drove down our drive, turned the corner and then another, to pull into the Post Office parking lot about 1 minute later. We heard those little furry balls of baby chick the minute we walked through the door. You can't help but smile when you hear 40 little chicks chirping at the top of their little bitty lungs. Life is sweet.

We have two large chickens, Bogey and Bacall. Bogey is a rooster and Bacall is a career hen, I guess, because she hasn't given me one egg. Not one. No maternal instincts whatsoever. So we decided to order more. I think we got a little carried away, but there were just so many to choose from. So now we have forty chickens outside our back door with two heat lamps to keep them warm and fencing around the tub to keep dogs out.

I guess I could blame Daddy on the chicken thing. When we were little we had an old record player that had belonged to my grandmother. The records were cylinder shape. You would slide the cylinder on this little thing, wind it up with the crank handle on the side, and lower the needle. Whenever Daddy would let us listen to it, he always played a song called "Chicken Reel". He'd play it, we three girls would dance. We loved that song. You could hear chickens singing in the chorus.

Jesus, could You please tell Daddy that I just got 40 chickens? I know he would get a kick out of that. Oh yeah, and could you tell him Happy Birthday? And that I really miss him? Tell him that I've never heard anyone laugh like he did but when Kyle laughs, I see him. Tell him Adam has his sense of humor and Kayla has his eyes. I even see him when I see little Eli's ears! Does he know about Eli? Could you make sure that he knows? Tell him he would love him so much. Probably call him "Clawhammer" like he did Kyle. I don't know if I ever told him how great he was at being Papa. Could You tell him? He was so gentle and got so much joy out of each one of his grandkids. Tell him he would be proud of all of them. And he sure loved us girls. There was never a question about that in any of our minds.

Maybe I just look for him in our kids, I don't know. I just know it makes me feel good when I think I see it. I think of him often and tell Hannah, Leah, and Rachel about him because I want them to know him. Could you tell him I have a hound dog named Pearl but Michael calls her "Blue" most of the time? He'll know why I wanted him to know that. You can tell him anything else You want, except maybe, that I have a horse. I'm not sure how he would feel about that. Happy Birthday, Daddy, I love you, and miss you terribly.

Well, back to the chickens. In about 5-6 months, I'll have enough eggs to supply most of the metroplex. I'm not going to name all the chicks until I see their personalities. I usually name my chickens after old movie stars. Marilyn was my best laying chicken out of the last batch until we couldn't find her anymore. She laid in the barn, the horse stalls, buckets, anywhere she could fit, she'd drop an egg. Hopefully I'll have another Marilyn. I believe the odds are in my favor.