Monday, April 12, 2010

Meet the Spring Chicks: Gladys, Prissy, Bernadette (Bernie), and Cora

At long last it is spring. I feel like I'm one of those pills that you put in water and it expands into a dinosaur-shaped sponge. I'm coming out of my dormant cyst form. A flower from a bud.

Part of this feeling is always generated by planting seeds. The garden is no longer frozen- it actually went from having 3 feet of snow on top to dry top soil way too fast. One day I was digging through scattered piles of slush to plant some late garlic and the next I am planting spinach seeds that I actually need to water to get germinated.

The most exciting part of this spring, however, is the arrival of chicks. A little late for Easter, these puff balls are bringing smiles and warm joy to our frozen hearts (and hot drool to our dogs' mouths). We have them set up in the basement in a horse trough with a protective wire mesh covering over them to keep out domestic predators (a.k.a. Mona the cat, Roxy and Maisy the dogs).

It is always entertaining to watch them slowly fall asleep, eyes slowly drooping like a teenager in math class, until they tumble face-first asleep into the wood shavings. Priceless.

These chicks will eventually grow to join the ranks of Edna and Stella, our laying hens, to provide eggs for goodies like quiche, cookies, flan, and more (don't worry, there will surely be enough for our neighbors and friends too).