YONDER BREAKS

We currently have six chickens, which given the current cost of eggs, has been a pretty good thing (although not a good investment, really, with the cost of chicken food, a coop, the fence we built, etc...buyer beware). One of them, Zara, has recently discovered that she can get out of the run, even though we've clipped all of their wings (guess we didn't do a good enough job). When I discovered this yesterday, I put her back in and then watched to see how she got out. After blocking her path and relocating her again, it was interesting watching her next move: She frantically paced back and forth, all along the fence wall, looking for the way out she once knew, but was no longer there. For several minutes (and maybe even more, because I walked away), she kept this up, walking the same paths over and over, looking for something new that would lead to her beloved freedom, now stolen from her. Here are the happy chicks... ...and the discontented escapee. Now I know that chickens a

I love reading, which wasn't always the case. I used to only keep non-fiction, typically spiritually-focused books around, reading one every once in a while, usually because it was referred by someone. About nine years ago, however, I had a boring desk job with lots of time to listen to things while performing menial tasks. I started listening to audiobooks, amongst other things, and since I didn't want to spend any money on them, I would often find free audiobooks of classic literature (the kind you are supposed to read in high school, but I always Spark-noted instead). I loved catching up on the greats, Dickens becoming my favorite, and so as the years went on, I decided to get into reading more fiction. Now I'm an avid reader; and with another day job that includes a lot of downtime, I have a fair amount to get into. However, I still tend to keep non-fiction, spiritually-focused books around in addition to my fiction novels. This past year I had a particularly great set