Top Comments 7.5.08: Nobody Home But Us Chickens

Ten years ago, my now-husband and I were sitting on the front porch of our apartment building, watching the world go by and talking about Someday. You know: that mythical time when you'll travel to exotic places, build that house of your dreams, be the perfect parent, learn that esoteric hobby you once read about in a magazine and have remembered ever since. There, with the trolley car line singing overhead and the hustle and bustle of a city all around us, young and in love, we dreamed about...

Chickens.

Well, not as such. More like "Wouldn't it be fun to get out of the city and live somewhere we could have a garden and an animal or two?" Fast-forward a decade, and here we are, doing "chick check" on our first little flock. Sometimes, little dreams come true.

Oddly enough for such an old-fashioned undertaking, we ordered our peeps online. We circled their target date on the calendar, writing "Chicks arrive!" in big, bold letters. We counted down. We readied their warmer. And then, a week early, the phone rang at 6:15 a.m.

Next thing I knew, DH was bounding out of bed, grabbing clothing and explaining that the postmaster had called to let us know that our chicks were here. Could we please come get them and spare the rural route routine? I swear, DH was almost as nervous as he was before our kids were born. He tore down the driveway and came back a short time later bearing a parcel of peeps, 16 little Black Sex-Links, Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons. We tipped them from their box into their new (and temporary) home, a large storage container lined with bedding, and watched as they zoomed right to the feeder and waterer, peeping like mad all the while.

I couldn't resist. I picked up the box and brought it into my son's bedroom so he could wake up to the new lives in the house. He was delighted and sat for the better part of an hour, just watching them. They've moved out to the shed now, along with their heat lamp, but he checks on them every day. "Hello, chicks!" he yells as he opens the door. I hold one for him and he pets her head gently, a little afraid of her ever-growing feet and claws. Awww.

DH threw together a temporary pen where the chicks will live until they move into the coop in a month or so. The coop is my husband's invention, a small shack but big enough to have taken all of his attention in the last month or so. He looks a little like an Amish man in his straw hat, laying on the roof and hammering away at the shingles, although he has a very un-Amish way of saying "S***!" when the measurements aren't square. He press-ganged me into holding lumber up while he hammered, so I had plenty of chances to witness the truing-up process. The funny part is how crabby he is about it, always talking about this or that problem that he has to address or about how he'll need to insulate it this fall. But he's having a great time.

He's trying to finish it soon because the girls are getting awfully big...and airborne...and restless. They're beginning to eye us strangely, as if sizing us up to see whether they can take us.

The sooner they go free-range and into the coop, the better. Because that's one step closer to the fulfillment of my evil plan, which consists of EGGS, EGGS, EGGS, MWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Oddly enough, I don't like eggs. Don't try to talk to me about quiche or over-easy. Blech. But for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies? Dutch Babies? Avgolemono? Now you're talking. Shoveling all that bedding every week is going to be worth it. DH has also assured me that they'll do the dirty work of ridding the garden of pests, which suits me just fine.

So while everyone else is away this weekend, we're here at home, refreshing the water and feed every few hours and laughing as we watch the girls strut their stuff. Sometimes, a little dream comes true.

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And now, onward and upward!

Remember, if you see a comment worth wider notice, send it to topcomments over at gmaildotcom by 9:30 Eastern. Please include your user name, links to the comment and diary in which it appears, and a few words about your choice.

Tonight's picks:

From llbear:

"Chancew's Top Rated coming out diary generated lots of good comments - and some questions by many people (both straight and gay).  Oceanstar 17 asked the question "What kind of gay are you?" Credit Bob Love with this pithy response that extends well beyond the community about whom it was directed.

"If you are going to Netroots Nation, you might want to print out Bob's comment, and sew it into your underwear.  That will equip you to meet people about whom you have some preconceived opinions."

From Ekaterin:

"A great graphic from Bowerie Boy in an "I'm not voting for Obama" diary."

From a Kossack whose UID escapes me (please speak up if it's you!):

"Finally, someone acknowledges the real problem of rising gas prices."

It appears in this diary.

JeffLieber "believes this deserves its own spotlight." It's from his diary, "Daily Kos The #7, with the dressing on the side."

Waiter, I'll have what they're having.

LandofEnchantment says we should have a look at Big Vegan's comment from BA BarackUS's "Writing Lessons for Trolls, Vol. 1."

My picks:

Mmmm... tabbouleh. Asinus Asinum Fricat's "What's for Dinner: The Lebanese Edition" is chock-full of lovely ideas for summer meals. But Bink's dinner is by far the simplest. (Lime-flavored, of course!)

This one was from last night. You really do have to read Stormbear's memory of a meeting with Jesse Helms to fully appreciate FishOutofWater's pithy response. (I know, I know -- I have the sense of humor of a 5-year-old...and he doesn't miss it at all! Thanks, Groucho!)

Last, but not least is Top Mojo, brought to you tonight by the letter X and the wonderful BeninSC.

Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 22 tonight of each plus ties):

1 thanks Boofdah by Rosebuddear - 296
2 Yes - this is outstanding. by Christin - 112
3 And McCain joined Helms in 1983 to oppose by Mother Mags - 102
4 Can't we PLEASE... by filmgeek83 - 91
5 NARAL put out a statement by John Campanelli - 90
6 Obviously Feingold isn't pure enough either by Larry Madill - 86
7 The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good by Parallax857 - 82
8 I think people are dissatisfied by Larry Madill - 81
9 thank you so much you guys by Rosebuddear - 80
10 hysterical rant. by Christin - 73
11 Just don't call me Shirley by paul2port - 72
12 If I read 'thrown under the bus' or by byteb - 72
13 Very nice, well-reasoned diary. by jenesq - 71
14 The bad news is that the economy WILL worsen by Shockwave - 70
15 Like I stated in the other diary by alkalinesky - 70
16 Ideological Purity is for Saints, not Politicians by Tackle - 69
17 OK...... by CanadaWest - 67
18 Nice diary by TheBlaz - 66
19 If this guy is a conservative idol... by Shockwave - 66
20 Good thing Feingold's not running for president. by turnover - 65
21 people are looking for ways to crucify Obama by kate mckinnon - 65
22 No pretty soon by IhateBush - 65
23 A lot of people by MBNYC - 65
24 It is the same position by IhateBush - 61
25 I'd prefer to call the whole thing Alice... by JeffLieber - 61
26 This is such a NON-ISSUE follks by Drdemocrat - 60
27 Awesome, enjoy John McCain by smash artist - 60
28 Cool, but not mass market at that price. by FishOutofWater - 60
29 thank you for this, shpilk  n/t by Dem in the heart of Texas - 60
30 among other reasons to hope for Obama this fall by kineticdissent - 59

Top Mojo - everything included:

1 Tip Jar by LithiumCola - 382
2 tip jar by slangist - 380
3 tj by shpilk - 367
4 And don't get me started on pronunciation... by JeffLieber - 318
5 thanks Boofdah by Rosebuddear - 296
6 Tips, recs, etc. by jim bow - 280
7 Tip Jar...n/t by chancew - 224
8 tips by dday - 210
9 Tip Jar by dhonig - 206
10 thanks for reading me, but now by teacherken - 203
11 Tip jar by CarrieNYC - 198
12 Man. I'm sorry you had to suffer through all that by boofdah - 177
13 tips by a gnostic - 147
14 Their disrespect for the truth is mind-numbing by JedReport - 120
15 Yes - this is outstanding. by Christin - 112
16 Falafel/mojo here! by Asinus Asinum Fricat - 106
17 And McCain joined Helms in 1983 to oppose by Mother Mags - 102
18 Can't we PLEASE... by filmgeek83 - 91
19 NARAL put out a statement by John Campanelli - 90
20 Obviously Feingold isn't pure enough either by Larry Madill - 86
21 The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good by Parallax857 - 82
22 I think people are dissatisfied by Larry Madill - 81
23 thank you so much you guys by Rosebuddear - 80
24 Good morning all by Frankenoid - 78
25 All right ... by Meteor Blades - 73
26 hysterical rant. by Christin - 73
27 Just don't call me Shirley by paul2port - 72
28 If I read 'thrown under the bus' or by byteb - 72
29 Very nice, well-reasoned diary. by jenesq - 71
30 The bad news is that the economy WILL worsen by Shockwave - 70
31 Like I stated in the other diary by alkalinesky - 70

So, how's your Saturday night going?