"Evil" Successfully Contributes to the Gene Pool

Yesterday morning when I went out to feed the critters, only Evil S. Rooster and Tenzing Norgay came running. I have been hearing coyotes close by even in the daylight, so I was afraid I had lost half of my adult chickens in one mean night. I went to the chicken coop and heard low hen mutterings, much to my relief. I lifted the nest roof and found Mrs. Peckins and Baby Sister sitting on the same nest of eggs. I also heard the tiny peeping of a chick! I gently lifted both hens off the nest and there was a tiny blue feathered chick with a sunny yellow cap. It was the cutest thing in the world! It was a Porcelain D'Uccle chick, a chip off the ol' Evil Rooster block!

Mrs. Peckins has always had the air of a mother about her. Her fluffy brown, black and red feathers are soft and maternal. She is the most gentle of my chickens, hence the name. And bless her heart, she has been sitting on eggs for so many weeks this year. Several weeks ago, I finally took all of the eggs out of the nest. They were all rotten and some of them exploded, to my extreme dismay! (I am just a rookie at this chicken raising endeavor, but learning fast, let me tell you!) I assumed that Evil the Rooster was not old enough to father chicks, and it was just as well since he is one mean little guy.

Thanks to the surprise chick, I got the large cage ready with a nest of hay and transferred Mrs. Peckins, most of the eggs and the tiny little peep to it. I knew her dedication. Even though the chick belonged to one of the D'Uccle hens, Mrs Peckins deserved to have this nest of eggs and any living chicks. I gently listened to each egg and found one peeping and one making a tiny little pecking. I tried to candle the rest of the eggs and removed about ten of them. Four were clearly not fertile, and six were silent but I could not tell if they were developing or not. I set them aside in a bowl and forgot them on the porch but Duke found them. If they were soon to be peeps, they met a bad end...

I left the maternity cage right outside the front door all night long. Duke slept beside it. I got up to check to make sure the little chick had not fallen out of the nest. This morning I gently lifted a growling little hen off the nest and sure enough, two more PEEPS were in it! Another little D'Uccle and the tiniest one, still a bit wet, was Mrs. Peckins' own little chick. It is not marked like a Partridge Cochin, but has a yellow head and a bronze body. It is the tiniest chick I have ever seen in my life, so I hope it is healthy. I hope it makes it.

I lifted Mrs. Peckins down by some food and water so I could hold each little chick. I also listened to the rest of the eggs. She gladly ate and drank but the plaintive peeping of her chicks disurbed her. When Duke came to investigate the possibility of eating chicken feed (crazy dog) Mrs. Peckins threaten Duke and he backed away. Tiny as they are, these chickens are brave. I will wait one more day and then remove the rest of the eggs, which Duke will love, and then I will have to figure out where to pen Mrs Peckins and her tiny brood of chicks.

I know there is nothing mysterious about chickens hatching eggs, but it seems like a miracle to me.

Aren't they the cutest little bits of living biomass you have ever seen in your life?!

Post Script: Another egg has hatched! Four and counting...

Post Post Script: I know it is an effect of the camera, but the eggs and the peep seem to have auras around them.

Post Post Post Script: Eleven chicks in all hatched out!

Things Seen

There have been periods of time in my life when I have been afflicted with blurry eyesight. I do wear glasses, but these periods of blurriness have not been an impairment - more of an interference. I was well into my forties when I discovered that these moments of blurriness were actually times when I could see auras around people if I was so inclined. Like many things in life, with an ounce of confirmation comes a pound of effort. I stopped discounting what I was seeing, and began working at it.

I have known a few people whose ability to see auras was quite advanced. After dinner one evening at a friend's home, I casually mentioned that I had an unusual pain in my leg. It was a tiny spot of pain on the outside of my right calf. There was no bruise and no reason I was aware of that it should be hurting. It had been aching for a couple of weeks. I did not say where the pain was located. I was simply complaining when I said "I have a weird pain in my leg."

My friend said "I know. It's right there." She touched my jeans, gently pressing her finger precisely on the ache. I was amazed. She could not have hit the mark more precisely if I had drawn an X on the spot.

It was several years later when I learned I could see auras, too. I can not see them as clearly as my friend can. There are times when I can not see them at all. After I realized what was "wrong" with my eyes at these times of interference, I worked at looking at every one's aura I possibly could.

At work, I practiced during staff meetings in a roomful of engineers. The neutral colored walls of the room provided a perfect backdrop. Also, when a person was speaking it was normal and natural for everyone at the table to be looking directly at him. I could "stare" to my heart's content.

Two of the engineers maintained a professional relationship, but if they sat next to one another, large areas of dark energy massed between them. It was as if all the energy from around each body bulged outward toward the other man, thinning on the away side. It was not black and evil or anything dramatic. It seemed to me as if each body was trying to keep as much distance from the other as possible, as if they had sat too close for comfort for either man. When I saw that, though both men were always professionally polite and friendly, I realized there must have been some issues between them. Our language appropriately describes the energetic reality of our emotions.

One of the most opinionated engineers had the brightest and most well defined aura I could see. It was clear and bright with a definite line surrounding the outline of his body. One day I could see little funnels of dark blue energy spouting from his right shoulder in two places. I impulsively asked if his shoulder was hurting. He looked mildly surprised and admitted he had bursitis and it was bothering him. I realized then that pain was visible and that was how my friend had been able to place her finger directly over the ache on my leg.

I still was not convinced that I was not imagining these things. An aura is a subtle thing to see, almost as if it is not there at all, and easy to dismiss as imagination. Some time later the man with the painful shoulder was chatting in my office. I decided to "look" at his shoulder again but I could not see any of those tiny spouts of navy blue color. I casually asked if his shoulder was better. When he said it was not hurting at all, I received a big jolt. Affirmation!

I decided to study what I was seeing. I drew a simple outline of the upper half of a human body and reproduced it three times, making a work sheet of four blank "bodies". I made about two dozen copies of these blanks and put them in a three ring binder. I bought a little zippered pencil case designed to fit in a notebook and put several colored pencils in there. I carried this notebook with me for weeks. Whenever I had a chance to observe people's auras, I would record what I saw.

As time went on, I realized I could see some subtle features in the energy surrounding people. I have seen white "flames" over several men's heads. It is a single flame of white, almost like a candle. I do not know what that means.

I watched two young lovers two rows down at a movie. As their kissing became more ardent, their auras merged and glowed with the exact same soft white color. Soon, they either realized their behavior was bordering on inappropriate, or the girl rebuffed the young man, because suddenly their auras parted and diminished in intensity and both sat up straight in their seats.

A few days after the movie, I visited a friend who rehabilitates hawks and other raptors. She brought out a favorite female hawk she had been working diligently to use as an educational animal. As my friend stood holding the hawk on her arm, explaining how special she felt this hawk was, a soft white glow enveloped both my friend and the hawk. Apparently, the energy of love, whether between teenagers or between a hawk and a woman, is a soft white glow, like clouds.

Twice now I have seen the energetic outlines of spirits or angels, or something that takes the shape of human form. My daughter was visiting me in my cube at work, sitting against that wonderful neutral office wall color. I decided to take a "look" at her. To my surprise, there were two large human shapes standing just behind her shoulders, each with an arm behind her. I could not see any features, only a faint outline, but it was unmistakable! She was in the process of making some profound changes in her life at that time and I assume these were guardian spirits or guides walking with her and helping her as she transformed her life.

It was several years before I received personal confirmation that I had indeed seen guardian spirits, or whatever those energetic, human shaped outlines were behind my daughter. I went to an open Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. As a woman told her story, I noticed a definite bright white shape just behind her. At times it was very bright and quite unmistakable. As she completed the moving personal story, the energy faded away. She spoke for another few minutes but I could not detect anything behind the woman again.

After the meeting, I waited until everyone else had spoken to her, then I thanked her for sharing. I took a deep breath and said I was certain she would think I was crazy, but while she was telling her story, I could see an angel or a spirit behind her the entire time. She smiled and assured me I was not crazy because other people had told her the same thing at different times. Even though I knew what I was seeing, the jolt of affirmation came as a shock!

I practiced looking at every aura I could for about a year before I gradually stopped. I thought restaurants would be a good place to practice, but it turned out they were not. I could observe a person to my heart's content, but the moment I attempted to tune in on their aura, they would invariably turn to look directly at me. No glancing around the room to see who was staring at them. They would look directly at me. This happened without fail. It was so unnerving that I stopped that practice. It seemed to be an invasion of privacy of sorts. I think it means that we energetically sense far more of the world than we realize.

I believe the ability to see auras is simply noticing energy and it is likely everyone can do this. I could write an entire chapter on the things I noticed when I was "studying" auras - too long to post here. I will have to save it for The Book!

Mother's Day

A moment to honor and appreciate our mother earth, without whom no other motherhood would be possible.....

Do Something Well

In my entire life, there are only a handful of things I know, or knew, how to do well. The first thing I mastered was riding Lady, my father's quarter horse mare. I had no fear. I knew I would not fall off. I knew she would not run away. The very few times she exerted her considerable will, I simply had the confidence and trust to insist she go my way. She always did. I rode without saddle and often barefoot. From her warm and broad back, I was the ruler of all I surveyed, without fear, and safe in the care of a loving horse whose gift to me was empowerment.

It was many long years before I mastered anything again. I went to school. I learned to swim. I learned to read. I got a job and made friends and learned to drive a car. But never again did I engage in anything that empowered me, bolstered my self-esteem or confidence - until I got my first Harley.

I was not a consummate rider. I had to always think ahead as to where I would stop, where I would park, where I would ride. I was too short and had to manage the logistics of moving an eight hundred pound machine safely and in an upright position. It is entirely possible to bring the bike to a stop over a low spot and my feet not touch the ground. It is very embarrassing for a rider to drop her motorcycle. Eventually, I became a good rider. I could handle my Harley. I knew it well - how far I could lean in a curve. I knew how fast I could safely ride, and I knew exactly how hard I was willing to apply the brakes - which was not very hard. I avoided sudden braking with everything at my disposal at all times.

There were times riding when all was right in my universe, when there was perfect attunement and agreement with the environment, the machine, the road, and my intent. It was wonderful. It felt wonderful.

My son knows all about mastering a physical activity. He learned to walk with almost no effort. I played catch with him when he was just a little guy and signed him up for baseball at age six. The first year the players were allowed to steal bases in Little League baseball, he effortlessly ran backwards as gracefully as he could run forward, either in a hot box, or pressuring home plate. He was just a little boy with perfect grace. When he grew up and played basketball, he could run backwards the entire length of the court, fearlessly confident and hyper focused on the ball. He was something to see.

He snowboards now. I have never seen him on the snow, but I am certain he is as beautiful at that as he was playing sports growing up. I hope he continues to add to his list of mastered physical activities - that he does not allow time and the decline of his body rob him of the chances to enjoy the physical dance this world provides for us the way I have.

My list is woefully and shamefully short.

Spring Arrives with a Splash and a Peep

My biggest fear since moving into my current home finally happened, but it was minor. It rained so much in such a short time that the creek came out of the banks and flooded around the house. It left everything in a big mess but it did not destroy anything or wash anything away, amazingly enough. It is only a matter of time until a big flood happens here. I need to set my focus toward getting a new home built on higher ground. Daunting.

Another cat has disappeared. Sweet Cassiopeia disappeared two days after the flood. She was here when I left for work and gone forever by the time I got home that evening. That is the last time I will try to have a cat here. Their life expectancy is only about six months. She was a very sweet cat and I feel terrible, including guilty.

I owe the good Dukester an apology for casting suspicion on his sterling character. I am sorry for labeling him as a chicken murderer. I have allowed Evil Rooster to roam at will day and night, (hoping he will meet his demise), but Duke has no interest in him except to eat the chicken food I scatter. It is clear it was not Duke that killed Amidala. He and Cassie were friends so I know he did not kill her or cause her to disappear. Sadly, whatever is causing my cats to disappear apparently does not have a taste for evil roosters...

Almost two months ago I ordered chicks from My Pet Chicken, a hatchery located in Connecticut. They are the only hatchery in the USA that will sex bantam breed peeps. That means I can buy all hens and not have to worry about unwanted roosters. They also have found a way to mail peeps in small numbers, as few as one chick! They have a formula. The further you live from their hatchery, the more chicks you have to purchase in order to insure they can maintain their body heat during the journey. Once peeps get too cold, they are doomed. I had to purchase eight chicks in order to get the four I wanted, but they all arrived in excellent health yesterday morning at the Gage post office in Topeka. So cute!

Of the eight Silver Sebright peeps, two are impossibly small and their fluff is distinctly colored. I hope I am wrong, but those two characteristics meant I had chosen rooster chicks last year. Since I paid TEN DOLLARS APIECE for these tiny little creatures specifically to avoid roosters, I hope those people in Connecticut were not hung over the day they sexed these eight peeps! Time will tell.

Only one chick had baby wing feathers yesterday, but this morning they all have them - in less than 24 hours! It is most amazing how quickly chicks grow up. There are too many of them for me to give them all names but I am sure there will be one or two who distinguishes herself in this tiny flock.

Once again I have to express my appreciation of the United States Post Office. Affordable, efficient, reliable and willing to deliver just about anything you can get into a box. The chicks came in a little cardboard pyramid designed to not tip over. It contained nesting material and two heat packs, and eight healthy little peeps! I felt sorry for those little guys. They hatched, but before their fluff was hardly dry, they were packed up and shipped to far off tornado country. I do not know how many United States Postal Service employees handled that little box of chicks, but they did a fine job.

This is what the chicks will look like when they are grown. From the day I saw photos of these chickens, I wanted a few. Their feathering is so unusual! They are poor egg layers and not very hardy so it is likely another bad idea in a lifetime of bad ideas. Who is keeping score?















A Silver Sebright hen above. Left, the eight Silver Sebright chicks I ordered from Connecticut. Poor tiny peeps traveled so far to arrive in Kansas....