Sorry for slacking off a little, I had another tooth pulled last week (2nd in as many months) that has gone into that 27th circle of hell called a “dry socket.” On top of that, a previously fractured jaw has finally given up the ghost and has gone into constant spasm in protest (Occupy Wendy’s Mouth). If you have TMJ, you know the pain involved, not only are the muscles in agony but because they are swollen and in spasm, they are aggravating some facial nerves, making me one very unhappy camper.
The only way I can talk is by holding my mouth closed and talking through my teeth, making my kids think that I’m really angry about everything these days, which is not true, I’m only angry about the broken Waterford wine goblet.
The only cure? Rest, pain meds, muscle relaxants, and a liquid diet for the next month or two. (Yup, Santa is bringing me a juicer for Christmas.) No figgy pudding for Wendy.
But even still, the show must go on. This afternoon I asked Spencer my 6′ 4” son to bring a small Christmas tree out to the hen house in order to get some photos for the blog. Just the thought of me getting up off the couch was too much.
First, he put the tree on the ground. There was mild interest from the chickens – what is this inanimate green object in our house and more importantly, could it be food? Clearly they did not yet appreciate the magic of the tannenbuam.
Not getting the response he wanted (honestly, I think he expected them to break out in holiday songs while one of them passed out mugs of hot cocoa) Spencer spread some feed near the tree. A few brave ones came closer.
And then Simon, our adventurer, joined the group. That’s her, the lilliputian black and white chicken taken from the view of a camera held up high – very high.
Did I mention the boy was 6’4”? oh and did I also mention that he would rather be on laundry detail for a week then kneel down or even crouch in the chicken coop?
“Mom, Do you know how much poop they make?!!”
Still he did it, and without a word of complaint.
So while our chickens got to enjoy a little bit of holiday joy this afternoon, the real Christmas gift here was that a mom got to see how her little (tall) chick went out of his way to look out for his mama hen when she needed a little looking out for.
