back on the farm, with additions!

hello all! so i returned to the farm on sunday night to a mass of people picking me up from the train station: shelby, her two daughters anna and laura, then emily and our new intern, matthias (from france). we stopped and ate at in & out burger on our way back to firebaugh. i hadn't eaten there in years so it was a treat. we stopped at shelby's to drop off her daughters but ran into john at the house. we were going to leave quickly, but we ended up hanging out, drinking wine and eating cheese for about an hour while babbling about everything under the sun. it was a really pleasant way to return.

i had been told that there were a number of "surprises" in store for me at the ranch, so i was eager to find out what exactly these consisted of. as we pulled up in the darkness, shelby asked me if i could "help her out." "umm, sure," i said, not really knowing what she meant. "it shouldn't take too long, but its easier with two people," she said. now i was worried. "what are we doing?"

the car stopped, but emily and matthias got out as well. i noticed something new in a little fenced-in area: a big white trailer with a chicken painted on the outside. apparently, the chickens (who had formerly lived at shelby's house) had moved to the ranch! and the help that shelby needed was help in rounding them up and putting them inside of their little trailer for the night.

she was crawling around under the trailer because some of them were asleep there. she grabbed a chicken and i was standing next to her, watching. suddenly she handed it to me. i completely freaked out, not seeing this coming, and ran in the other direction. "i'm not touching that!" i yelled, still very much in my city mindset. emily and matt got a kick out of this because they had been doing this for two days already. so, they grabbed the chickens from shelby and put them into the trailer one by one. finally, i decided i needed to get used to it, so i grabbed one as well. i was surprised by how docile the chicken was. it was feathery and cute. we got them all cozy and then said goodnight.

and so, our new task is to let the chickens out in the morning, feed them, water them, and then put them away at night. the early morning ritual has been a little difficult because chickens seem to really like people (or just us, who knows). so after we let them out into their little pen and walk away, they follow us. they fly over the electric fence or simply squeeze through its holes. (the electricity is clearly not doing its job) today, while on the phone i was wandering around the farm and a chicken escaped! luckily i was able to grab it and put it back in. one must wonder how many escape and run off towards chicken freedom before we realize it. sniff.

i'm really enjoying this new task of ours. anyone who knows me well knows my lifelong appreciation of chickens, so to be interacting with them personally on a daily basis is rather fun. i'm still working on catching them -- that part is hard, especially because if you don't do it right, they flap vigorously and its downright frightening. but i'm getting there.