When the rains finally came yesterday
afternoon,you could hear a sigh of relief from the trees and plants
and grass as they were bathed in a cool blanket of welcomed wetness.
But not all of nature's creations were happy with her gift of rain.
The chickens were horrified. This was the first rain they actually
were in and it totally panicked them.I could hear them peeping and
baaawking all the way to the back porch. So preparing for a rescue
mission I grabbed my porch umbrella, which opens up looking like a
wilted mushroom, and trotted across the yard with Fred the rescue dog
ready to do his part, as well as some of the yard cats, so ever
anxious to get in the chicken pen and do some emergency resuscitation
if necessary.
And there they were 12 wet,soggy and very unhappy chickens running
from corner to corner flapping their little wings,wild eyed,panic
stricken,totally forgetting that they have a perfectly good coop door
that all they had to do was run up their ramp and pop inside to the
warmth and safety of their condo.
With Fred and the cats standing by outside the pen ready to go on a
moments notice I told them to wish me luck, I was going in. I couldn't
get the umbrella through the door.By this time the rain was coming
down in sheets,I could hear thunder, and visions of me getting struck
by lightening through the umbrella were running through my mind.
Leaving the umbrella I entered and approached the cowering,panic
stricken birds. I picked up each one and shoved it through the coop
door. Down the inside ramp they went and with a flutter jumped up on
their assorted ramps and shook themselves off. That is except for
Vera,named after the dippy waitress in Mel's Diner. She stood at the
doorway all ready to go in when it thundered.She turned around ran
past me down the ramp and went in circles in the yard squawking"What
do I do What do I do!" I made a lunged and grabbed the fowl fool and
threw her through the door. Once inside, she fluffed her feathers,
tossed her head and went over to one of the feed dishes with a "I
meant to do that" attitude.
I was soaked and muddy and a bit ticked off.When I got back in the
yard,I couldn't find my umbrella, I knew I left it by the pen
door.Just then Fred came running by with the umbrella in his mouth. I
grabbed it, bopped him on the head, stalked passed the cats who were
sitting nice and dry on our bench under a big oak tree,and who were
trying not to snicker at me as I slogged my way back to the house.
These birds better lay plenty of eggs.
