Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #190 - Where are the chickens and Assorted Stuff

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #190 - Where are the chickens and Assorted Stuff

Hi Mom,

Where are the chickens? As you can see in the two photos I have shared here, the coop is empty because the chickens are all huddled in the hen house, which is the boxy thing on the left where you can see the ramp leading to.

I consulted some local chicken experts and was assured at though chickens are VERY STUPID that they are not so stupid as to starve themselves of food and water to the point of death. As you can see the food trough is in the back of the coop's run, near the ramp, and the water is up near the fence in the lower right on a warmer plate.

I have been watching out the window all day and finally I did see three chickens briefly eating and drinking (I hope, I did not see any drink) for just a few minutes before bustling back to the warmth of the hen house, protected from wind, and where we have a light that surely provides a fair amount of warmth. Plus, I am told that they huddle together.

It is very cold with day time temperatures around 12 degrees Farenheit and with blowing winds and swirling snow and surely wind chills in the single digits. However, weather prognosticators would have us believe that tempertatures, even over night tonight, will raise to the 20s by daybreak and to the mid-30s by afternoon, and supposedly, the temperatures will break 40 degrees Friday and give way to rain, which will make a slushy mess of all this snow, before freezing again Saturday and after. I would prefer for the weather to grow cold and stay cold. If we are to have snow, and it seems a fashionable accessory of every winter season, let's have sub-freezing temperatures and snow and have it stay snowy and cold until the thaw rather than thawing and freezing cycles, and worse, the scourge of freezing rain, which I loathe.

Is it obvious that I am reading a biography of Charles Dickens? More on this in future installments, but I am much inspired by Dickens' prose and his life as the most successful writer of his time. I am learning so much about him. It's glorious.

It's time to add some pictures of you, Mom, on this blog again lest we forget the impetus for the series. Here's two pictures Dad took of you from back when you two were dating in the 1950s.

I am still reeling from the death of David Bowie. Not to overshadow the loss of you, Mom, and I am still learning to cope with that, too. I was struck the other day, yet again, that I did not want to live in a world without you in it, and then it hit me all over again that I have no choice and that I must. And though I feel your presence daily, it's not the same as seeing you, hearing you, and kissing your warm cheek.

Speaking of kissing a mother's cheek, I read Stephen Dobyns' poem "Tomatoes" in class today. I should read poems more often, It does not take that much time to read a poem out loud. Perhaps I will share that poem on the blog soon, here, as it is one of my favorites.

I had a terrible time in Java lab today, though I am learning to roll with adversity and take it in stride. Often the GAs running the labs are new to profession and not clear on how to manage time. The lab TA gave us an exercise and a lab report to do but took up a good 45-60 minutes of our time lecturing, and I finished neither. Plus, both things were too difficult to finish in two hours working at a fairly swift pace, and we did not have a sufficient example of a lab report on which to model our own.

I spent a frustrating time this morning working through problems for a review of "prerequisite material" for Calculus and still did not finish the series of questions in the online homework. I did set my tutoring appointment for Friday.

Despite struggles with homework and a late start on this blog entry, I managed to do most of my work for my job, though I did not manage to complete everything I wanted to do, but that's always the case.

I did spend time thinking about my fiction writing, which is a new promise to myself, and since I was trapped in the car for a very long time with people crawling along the slippery roads, I managed to listen to over an hour of the Dickens biography.

Also, last night, Liesel and I finished watching the Fargo TV program from FX, and I will surely share some thoughts on this excellent episodic narrative in future blog entry. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the episodic narrative? This is one of the exhilarating and inspiring things about Dickens, who released most of his books in episodic installments.

Off to make coffee and get to bed with many blankets and good things to read.

To my readers, take care of yourself. Find and give joy. Stay warm. Be kind. Eat something delicious. Laugh. See you tomorrow.

To Mom, will I ever get through a day in which there is not one pang of loss in missing you acutely?

Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 192 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.13 - 19:50