Our snow is still deep; well over a foot in most places. Yet, one can now perceive it receding. The paths are getting soft and spongy and difficult to walk on. Most of my paths are trodden down. They have four or five inches of packed snow as a base. They never melt evenly down. Perhaps because of the high sides and the angle of the Sun, they always melt so there is a decided slant; one side being a couple inches higher than the other. I feel like a tightrope walker as I wend my way to the barn and chicken coop.
My chickens are finally beginning to lay. I need to replenish my flock. I only have about twenty chickens and many of my hens are old, by old, I mean old, some are over ten years old. I am getting about seven eggs most days; that is enough for us. But I want enough to give away. I have had a higher than usual mortality this Winter. I have lost four hens. Their was evidence that, at least, one was killed; by what, I don't know.
The chickens were more imprisoned in their coop this year, than usual. We usually have geese and sheep in the same pasture as the chicken coop. The water for the geese and sheep is just a few feet from the chicken house door. The geese like to hang around that area and they quickly pad down the snow. Both the geese and the sheep make a path to the barn. Last Fall I sold my geese and sheep, because I wanted a Winter of low chores. I had to haul water every day for the sheep and geese, from the house, a distance of one hundred yards.
Chickens don't mind the cold. If it is Sunny and above zero F, I let them out. They like running around outside in the Winter and they can go into the barn and scratch around. However, they don't like to stand in snow. They will walk on it, but they hate to walk in it. When we had geese and sheep, they had a large area to roam in and they could take the path to the barn. This must have been the first year, in the 38 Winters we lived here, that we had neither sheep or geese. I really wasn't aware of that until I realized the chickens had nowhere to walk. When I opened the chicken door, they would look out but that is all. Even now, when there is a little patch of ground, about the size of a table top, below their door, only one or two will jump to the ground and stay only a couple minutes. I reassure them that real Spring will arrive.
So like, everything else, barnyards have an ecology that one can disturb. I marvel at nature and how everything fits together. My observations could fill a book, perhaps another time.
Yes, this Winter seems reluctant to give up its hold. But it is clear it is losing out to Spring. The buds on the soft maples are getting redder as they prepare to swell and burst forth. I saw a few flies yesterday cavorting above the snow and you can sense the exhilaration that is Spring. It may express itself suddenly like a coiled spring.
The dark seem to be hanging on to the control of the world in a similar way. The news is miserable, it is difficult to see signs of light in the main stream media. Don't lose heart. Continue to shine your light wherever you go. Watch your mind. Ignore negative thoughts. Love everybody and everything. Know that Spring is coming to the world.
Create a little paradise around you. Our paradises will soon come together.
Love and Peace, Gregg
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