excessive absences

(writing for five minutes on present)

here i am, present in life! (really, this is a random picture.
i'm tired of the broody betty snapshots....)

it's broody betty again
(she has so much to teach)
she's sitting on the chicken porch again
and
gathering the other hens' eggs for her own
brooding
i push her back into the coop world
but even then she's not present
she ignores the other hens
she seems disoriented
she spends an inordinate amount of time fluffing
she steps right back up the ramp to her porch
really, she's obsessed
and don't we see this in ourselves?
obsessed and...absent?

what do you do when you find yourself or a loved on obsessed and absent? i'll go first in the comments....

linking with-

the gypsy mama for five-minute-friday, grace for FYBF, beholding glory for faith-filled friday, cheryl for true vine challenge, barbie for freshly brewed life

oh, broody betty - an update on all things gallinaceous

chris included a covered porch
when he built our hens' coop and nesting boxes
and broody betty loves it
when she went broody for about six weeks
she would roll the other girls' eggs
from the nests to the porch
and
just sit,
faithfully and fruitlessly
(or should i say chicklessly?)
lest she starve, we staged an intervention,
leaving her in a dog house for four days
and she was better
but
we've had five rainy days in a row this week
and it's just been too much for her
(i understand this)
she's sitting again
not eating
not socializing
hoping for some sunshine to break through her gloom
will we have to stage another intervention?
ah....the suspense
in other news
one of the hens has a matted eye....
we named her iris

what's new with you?

*50 points to the person who knows the definition of gallinaceous. without looking.

what broody betty is teaching

broody betty is back in

general population
after a four-day isolation
in the igloo dog house
so. glad.
we chose to intervene
her comb is perkier
she's competing for, and winning, earth worms
(thank you, tropical storm andrea)
but best?
she seems to have overcome her overwhelming bent
toward self-destructive brooding
and
this is more than a micro-farm poultry success
it's a lesson in loving the ones around us
who can't fight it anymore-
this overwhelming bent toward self-destruction -
what jesus did first?
he stopped
when we come out of ourselves and stop
then we can
pray
listen
research
and
push our loved ones
off
the
nest

i am so thankful for the people who pushed me those years ago when i was determined to be the thinnest. woman. ever. we cannot ignore our friends and family who need us. if you feel inadequate, get advice from experts. pray without ceasing. but, please, don't do nothing.

i  would love to hear your thoughts on intervention....

linking with-

grace for FYBF, beholding glory for faith-filled friday, cheryl for true vine challenge, barbie for freshly brewed life

on broodiness (oh, it's a word)

i have a broody hen

that's right
broody
it's a word
she sits on the other girls'
unfertilized eggs
all
day
the futility! the futility!
broody hens,
without intervention,
suffer
dehydration
feather-loss
starvation
because they will not
give up
their vain pursuit
already my broody betty's
comb is pink and limp
and the other girls have rejected her
so
i'm pushing her out
to walk
to eat
to drink
to live again
and
i'm thinking on our own broody seasons
in which we cling to selfish and  fruitless endeavors....
broody betty was bred to lay and leave
humans?
to
glorify
god
and when we hold fast to
things-not-god
we become that
broody-hen-pecked-limpy-comb-golden-comet
named betty

how about you? have you had broody seasons? have you ever had to push someone off her nest?

linking with -

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god, jennifer for tell his story, jen for soli deo gloria, my freshly brewed life and kat for titus 2 tuesdays

798-803

the weekend was
chicken and dumplings
and
blue sky
and
no headache
and
my parents holding hands beside me
on the blue pew
and
four eggs on the forest floor
and
the shortening days don't feel so
somber
surrounded as i am
and
this eucharisto
thanking god for gifts in the
everyday,
counting them to 1000,
is peace

how about you? what are your thankfuls?

linking with -

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, l.l. for on, in, and around mondays

joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god, elaine for miss elaine-ous monday, jen for soli deo gloria shanda for on your heart tuesdays and kat for titus 2 tuesdays

join the chicken circus

writing for five minutes on join....

if i gave you fifty chances, you couldn't
possibly guess what i was doing last night
at nine
in the dark
wearing flip flops....
join me in laughing
as you conjure the scene -
the door to my chickens' coop
was closed
and i didn't know it
so they couldn't put themselves to bed
properly
do you know that at dark chickens
stop moving?
they find a roost and
stay
there
i stepped into the yard to go tuck them in
(close the coop door)
and found
one on the handrail
one on the power box
three on top of the coop
and one AWOL
i couldn't run them in because, as i mentioned,
and continue joining in the laugh,
they don't move after dark
i had to catch them
with my hands
yes, it was scary
(imagine squawking, flapping, pecking, cussing)
despite a fear of snakes lurking in the dark
i searched for twenty minutes with a flashlight,
CSI style,
until i found the last one,
statuesque in a holly tree just twenty-three inches
from the coop
think i'll go boil an egg....

so, what were you doing at nine last night?

linking with -


the gypsy mama for five-minute-friday
beki at the rusted chain for fingerprint friday

michelle for caffeinated randomness

studio jru for sneak peek friday

just some news about anti-depressants, chickens and my husband the missionary

• i completely weaned myself off anti-depressants! and distressing dizziness followed. dizziness that huge chunks of cheddar cheese didn't help. tilt-a-whirl dizziness. should get off the ride in about a week, according to my very patient physician.
• one of my chickens turned against me yesterday. she ruffled her feathers and displayed aggression instead of walking obediently into her coop when i told her to. i saw the same one peck the cat yesterday. i've got my eye on you, red chicken! in other news from the coop, we should begin getting eggs this week or the next.
• if you're not my facebook friend, you might not know that i came across a frozen rattlesnake head and skin in my freezer yesterday. my father-in-law took them off my hands today since i could no longer open the door.
• i wasn't going to talk about it, but my husband is away. far far far away. thousands of miles. on a wycliffe trip. i miss him in my very bones. but i'm peaceful about it because he is in god's will and i love that he seeks and listens and obeys. this is cause for joy. 
• i've read galatians five everyday this week. let us keep in step with the spirit. and this is my banner scripture for now.

so what's going on in your world?

linking with -

jen for god bumps, joy for life:unmasked, grace for FYBF, faith links, carina for i am thankful, beki at the rusted chain, michelle for caffeinated randomness and studio jru for sneak peek friday

lesson from a pasture



photo credit

my husband's brief encounter with a cow on friday
has unraveled my heart
and
left an image burned
behind my eyes
she was a black cow and she stood
all day in the same spot
seeking neither water nor shade
curious, he left the mower
and approached the fence
that cow
that stoic black cow?
was protecting
her
dead
baby
from buzzards
and
there's always a bigger picture
we just have to go
to the fence to see it

how about you? any lessons from unusual places lately?

continuing to count his gifts from 1-1000 -

610. the chickens have left my living room!!!
611. a chipper message from my girl, the one i mentor
612. vegetable garden, planted
613. fresh herbs
614. back to school this week
615. baseball

linking with:

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, l.l. for on, in, and around mondays

joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god jen for soli deo gloria and
shanda for on your heart tuesdays

writing for four minutes and then taking a thirty-minute break and writing for one more minute on "light"

one of my brother's photos

writing for five minutes on light.

my husband came home with
six chicks
on wednesday
and although the coop is ready
the young ladies
will remain inside under a light
for twenty-three more days
they would die without it,
this light
and i know we talk about the
light of christ
as a star over bethlehem
but that sunrise on easter?
brighter.
and we would die without it

wishing you a joyous easter

linking with other five-minute-writers here.