It's an Easter Miracle

Because it's Easter and all and chickens have absolutely nothing to do with the Savior's Atonement yet we indulge ourselves on this convention and I will continue with my story and give justification for my actions. Because really, I believe in food storage. I believe in buying in bulk and having all kinds of food saved for a rainy day. Yes, I did stock up on canned goods right before Y2K. Not because I really believed anything would happen but because I thought we should be prepared anyway.

I go to the LDS church cannery and put flour in #10 cans and seal them up. I have well over 200 lbs. of flour in my cold storage under my porch. It sits with my many cans of food including rice, beans, homemade jam and salsa and buckets full of wheat. I plant a garden every year with great intentions of weeding it and tending it with care. One year I actually succeeded in doing so. I must mention, though, that even on my best gardening years I feel shame when I look over the fence at my neighbor's garden. She has neat grow boxes, a drip irrigation system, and her vegetables grow at an amazing rate. It would be safe to assume that she grew up gardening. It would soothe my wounded pride. Alas, she is from Singapore. She spent the first 21 years of her life in a concrete apartment building. But I digress.

Shouldn't a good food storage system consist of protein? Yes! Yes it should! Not cows, mind you. Did that. Hated it. But that wasn't my choice. I was just a kid, you see. But I have harbored a secret yearning to have chickens since I was a little girl. We had the stupid cows. Our neighbors got eggs. So cool.

My dear husband comments to others that I am unafraid to try new things. I am a great starter. The implied is that he is the finisher because I do not think things through. Because of this, I have hesitated to take on this chicken dream. Buying chicks around Easter is far too easy and stupid to do. You buy the chicks and the feed and the watering can along with a heat lamp and grow them for 6 weeks but then what? You have chickens running wild like in Hawaii. So I waited. For years.

My patience paid off. Last week my youngest son indicated interest in having chickens. I may have played it up and encouraged it a little bit. There is also a slight chance that I fed into this possible hobby by making a stop at Intermountain Farmer's Association where we cased the chick joint. Perhaps I studied one of the garden areas that the dog has massacred by running through and digging in regardless that it is fenced on three sides with chicken wire and wondered if a chicken coop could finish off that last side. The answer is partially.

Did you know that chicken coops are ridiculously expensive? Did you know I have absolutely no skills nor aptitude to build with wood and lack basic geometric skills?

But then there was the Easter Miracle on Craig's List

Okay, so it is clearly someone's abandoned scout project and it's not beautiful and perfectly plumb but it was $30! And it opens in the back to gather the eggs. And it (just barely) fit into the minivan when I put the seats down.

Although Scott has yet to show ANY signs of enthusiasm which can be loosely mirrored in the chick's current behavior; brooding. This is the six weeks they spend under a heat lamp growing feathers and a thick skin.
While my husband and a few of my children grapple with the fuzzy little creatures, my nearly 7 year old and I are enjoying our new little hobby. Because, to be truthful, aside from the awesome Craigslist deal and beyond the true meaning of Easter and the Resurrection, the other Easter miracle occurred nearly 7 years ago when my little Oedipus made his debut and provided me with another childhood.

Now quit the brooding and come out and play with us!