As I write this, an owl is perched in one of our large pines. It has been there for hours…watching and waiting. What is it waiting for? I suspect this gorgeous bird of prey is waiting for the chickens to come out. Particularly our tiny bantam, Harriett, who is small enough to be carried off.

Luckily, our chickens are well protected in their run and I am home from work today. Mr. Owl will have no breakfast. You know who will have breakfast? Sweetie Bug.

Who is Sweetie Bug? She is our resident egg eater. Every so often a chicken will take to eating its own eggs. This can be due to a vitamin deficiency, but in this case, Sweetie Bug is just a jerk. She has always been active and desperate to free range. If you give her an inch, she’ll take the whole egg supply and laugh at you while she breaks the shells. As I sit at the window waiting for the owl to leave, I know Sweetie Bug is eating eggs. Any smart farmer would cull her, but she is my son’s favorite and so it’s a useless situation.

I’m amazed at how tiny creatures or shifts in weather can affect the farm. Three days ago I saw a squirrel holding an apple, like it was a Disney character. The little guy was boldly sitting on our fence, just casually eating a whole apple. I decided to go inspect our orchard only to find about half our apples either gone or chewed apart. Night before last, I found a skunk asleep in the chicken coop. I screamed when I saw it and it lazily got up, looked directly at me and sauntered off. Totally unaffected.

As I sit here sipping my coffee I have come to the conclusion that nature doesn’t respect me…and either do skunks. How one earns skunk respect I’ve no idea. What I do know, is farming is complex. Sometimes it’s better to let the animals and the elements decide how the morning will go. Hopefully this owl will fly off soon…and thank goodness for coffee in the meantime ;)