I know I was absent all last week but I had some good reasons. I had my annual visit with friends and went to the US Open, it was the last full week of summer, and my class started so I had to get ready to teach.
Believe it or not, this is fun!
Chickens:
Anyway, some quick updates. We still have all of our remaining chickens. The town decided to pave our road and between the noise from the trucks and the smell of tar, we haven’t seen hide nor hair of any predators in our neck of the woods. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Gimpy is getting stronger and stronger. Now when she falls over, after some struggling, she can get up by herself (this is a HUGE improvement over her having to wait until we saw that she had fallen over for us to give her a hand.) She is still timid about joining the rest of the flock in the coop and when dusk rolls around, she stays near my feet expecting I’ll pick her up and put her in her private condo (rabbit hutch) for the night (I always do.) As she still has some walking issues and I’m not sure she can even roost, I’m letting her continue this but once the temps drop she’s going to have to join the rest of her flock mates if only to keep warm.
Hiking:
This weekend I decided to climb a mountain. I asked my kids if they wanted to go with me and like all the characters in the story of the Little Red Hen, they all said no.
So what does a mama do when no one wants to go on a hike with her?
She does it anyway.
Which is exactly what I did. I climbed up the West side of Pack Monadnock and then I climbed back down the east side. I haven’t done a mountain (Pack Monadock is 2200 feet) in years and I had (almost) forgotten how beautiful hiking can be. I can’t walk in the woods and not be calmed.
This close to nature.
Sure, sure, I came across a few little bobbles like:
- I had forgotten to pack (and take) Motrin – won’t be making that mistake again.
- Thank God there was water at the top because I clearly didn’t pack enough – again, a mistake that I won’t be repeating.
- I brought a small book, notebook, and pen to do some reading and writing at the summit – um, I was a little tired when I got to the top and the sun was going down so I ended up doing neither and it was wasted weight. Will rethink packing anything that is not necessary.
- Those little drawstring bags are not the best for hiking (especially when you are climbing a rock wall.) I’m going to be doing an upgrade on my backpack.
- A hiking stick is my new best friend.
But guess what? While my kids stayed home and watched a movie and played video games, I climbed a mountain.
New Hampshire has 48 mountains that are over 4,000 feet. There’s a club where people commit to climbing all 48. Some people do it in one summer, some take a lot longer (years.)
It will no doubt take me a long time, but I have joined the club because after this mountain hike, although tired and sweaty, I discovered that this mama hen is still super-strong.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.
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