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During the great chicken frostbite episode of 2008, my husband and I took the opportunity to clip our girls' wings with the hope that this tactic would prevent them from flying over the fence and wandering. They were total free-range birds until recently, when a Buff Orpington met her demise at the wheels of a demon driver. Now they have the run of a large pen and get about two hours at the end of the day to range where they will. Clipped wings! Yay! Victory!
Or not.
The girls were undeterred, of course, and while most of them stay in the pen quite happily, there are always a few that hide under the bush next to the front door, waiting for me to come out. Yes, I am a goddess to my chickens because I bear the sacred Treats. "Treats, girls, treats!" gets the entire flock running and flapping toward me.
I spent my day getting everything ready for tomorrow's big snowstorm, loading up the pigs' food and water, checking chicken supplies and hauling wood into the house. All afternoon, I had two or three chickens at my heels. I was getting ready to leave the house with the kids today when my 5-year-old called out "Mama! There's a raccoon chasing the chickens!" And dammit, sure enough, there was a big fat raccoon slinking down the fence line after failing to get a snack. I ran outside with a wooden spoon and chased him across the creek.
He didn't act oddly but I can't rule out rabies. It's the first time I've seen one out in the daylight and I am not happy about this. On the other hand, I'm proud of my son for noticing the problem and letting me know about it. I tend to think of him as just a little guy--and he is--but he grows up more every day. Yesterday, I sent him out to do egg check all by himself. He got all suited up in boots and coat and hat, a little Michelin Man with an egg basket, and toddled out to the coop. I watched him reach in under the girls and come up with treasure. When he came in, he counted out the dozen and put them in a carton for me. It's a small thing but every day his wings spread a little wider. I can't help being ambivalent about that.
I was a good kid while in my parents' house. College and grad school were, um, learning experiences. Every few months I would decide to ignore my big-R responsibility gene and just do something stupid just because it was so much fun. The dumbest fun I ever had involved alcohol, a boy I liked, railroad ties and an oncoming train. I felt its rumble in my skull. Couldn't help it, as my head was attached to the wooden tie. The boy, by contrast, got up and hopped on the last car, riding the rails for a good half-mile or so. Yep, a supposedly fun thing I'll never do again.*
So 'fess up, people: Life may have clipped your wings and you may take everything more seriously these days but when you were young and dumb, you also had a lot of fun. Spill! Let's hear your stories.
* With apologies to the late David Foster Wallace.
On to tonight's top comments, from you, our readers, and Top Mojo, gathered by our own sardonyx. Thank you, sar!
From michael james:
"This comment contains one of the greatest gifs I've ever seen."
From annetteboardman:
"I loved the thread on this diary (didn't love the diary, but the thread became delightful). Addison was the dominant poster.
From Youffraita:
"ek hornbeck offers a hilarious comment in a particularly dumb dumb diary about the economy."
From llbear:
"The State of Illinois, in its never-ending quest to provide an answer to the question WTF?, has impeached our governor by a vote of 114 to 1. cubiclesatan, amazed that Rep. Patterson cast the lone dissenting vote because "that he didn't feel it was his job to vote to impeach the governor" sets it up for Ozzie."
From klnb1019:
"This one made my Friday. Nate must be chortling over this one."
maggiejean also recommended this comment.
From sardonyx:
"Superribbie has some lovely numbers for us.
"A scarily predictive picture is reprinted here by benny05; I had to laugh at Ohiobama's follow-up question."
Sardonyx is pulling double duty tonight. He's not just a recommender, he's the Top Mojo king:
Top Mojo (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, and Mojo Friday:
1) I know ... by jewel33 — 303
2) Thank you. by grannyhelen — 146
3) and his "explanation" that cooking beef by p gorden lippy — 140
4) Dangit, droogie, you put Obama in the red shirt by Relevant Rhino — 137
5) He appears to have sold himself by FishOutofWater — 123
6) We have to push congress left and they will by NearlyNormal — 111
7) But those aren't the only concerns by heart of a quince — 106
8) I think it's time to take out the trash by ruscle — 106
9) Click here by Lava20 — 91
10) As a gay person... by Bensdad — 87
11) You are just now recognizing that, by wgard — 79
12) I'm sorry, but after... by WarrenS — 77
13) I don't care how much grief I get... by Bob Johnson — 76
14) Thanks by Jim Himes — 75
15) It's stiched into the elastic on your underwear by droogie6655321 — 74
16) I really responded to Biden on the by blue jersey mom — 72
17) Senator Ken Conrad is absolutely right by griz4u — 70
18) Thanks for this diary by david mizner — 69
19) The W economy in one graph by Jerome a Paris — 65
20) I must admit by Snud — 61
21) I love not being Republicans... ;-) by grannyhelen — 60
22) This guy has been reelected multiple times. by ppl can fly — 60
23) I wonder if Rep. Conyers and other Gupta critics by John Campanelli — 60
24) Galaxy Quest rocks!! by FishBiscuit — 60
25) The lede of the lead story in the Times by david mizner — 59
26) I also scored ridiculously high on the ASVAB by rogerdaddy — 58
27) 2006: "Cheney betting on bad news" by JLFinch — 57
28) Taking out the trash by JaciCee — 57
29) A sheriff denying by Sand in Florida — 55
30) CNN gets huge pharma revenues by FishOutofWater — 54
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip jar by Brandon Friedman — 405
2) Tips for a collective by TomP — 363
3) tip jar by juliewolf — 337
4) I know ... by jewel33 — 303
5) Jobs here please by SilverOz — 288
6) Of course, having watched "Battlestar Galactica" by droogie6655321 — 268
7) Tips / Mojo: 9 Jan 09 by A Siegel — 240
8) On and on and on it goes... by JeffLieber — 209
9) Tip Jar by ghostlawns — 193
10) Tip Jar by jewel33 — 179
11) Thank you. by grannyhelen — 146
12) Tips really go to Nate Silver and FiveThirtyEight by bradams — 143
13) and his "explanation" that cooking beef by p gorden lippy — 140
14) Dangit, droogie, you put Obama in the red shirt by Relevant Rhino — 137
15) Nickle Bag Joe runs his own fiefdom by entlord1 — 136
16) Mojo Mug by TexDem — 136
17) He appears to have sold himself by FishOutofWater — 123
18) The Lounge is Open by TexDem — 123
19) Dag nabbit, give me some mojo by TexDem — 122
20) This is not... by rserven — 121
21) Don't think about it, do it! by TexDem — 120
22) Heh by TexDem — 114
23) Good morning from an old MFer by vigilant meerkat — 114
24) Morning, all MFers! by rsmpdx — 113
25) Heh to you! by Allogenes — 112
26) We have to push congress left and they will by NearlyNormal — 111
27) You too, BJM! by rsmpdx — 111
28) Back at you by blue jersey mom — 110
29) But those aren't the only concerns by heart of a quince — 106
30) I think it's time to take out the trash by ruscle — 106
Let the tale-telling commence. Happy Friday night, everybody!