March 30th was Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood’s hatch day marking eight years. On Friday we had to say goodbye to Elinor. Ever since I mentioned about helping her up the ladder into the coop a couple months ago, she’s been in a very slow decline. We noticed her breathing was a bit labored, indicating she very likely had some sort of heart trouble. But she continued on as her usual self-assured and sassy self. Thursday was a gorgeous evening and she was out in the garden with all the other chickens happily scratching, wallowing in a sunny dust bath, and living her best life.

Friday morning when James opened the coop door to let all the chickens out into the run, Elinor didn’t come out. She sat in a corner, breathing heavily. James talked to her and even petted her, something she would never have allowed if she were feeling well. I was already at work and he had to go to work, and since the other chickens weren’t bothering her and there wasn’t anything to be done except make sure she was comfortable, he left her to herself.

James has a short day on Fridays and was back home by 1:00. Elinor was still in the corner, her breathing a little more difficult. While James was checking on her, Mrs. Dashwood came into the coop to check on Elinor too. But no one could do anything, and so Elinor was left in peace.

James went out every hour to look in on her. He debated whether or not to text me at work and decided not to. When I arrived home at 5, he told me I should go see Elinor. Out I went to the coop. She sat heavily, facing into a corner, her entire body moving as she labored to breathe. I spoke softly to her, told her what a beautiful chicken she is, thanked her for being so amazing, and wished her an easy passing.

I went back in the house, we had dinner, and afterwards James went out to the coop to check on Elinor. At some point in the previous hour, she had died. Did she wait for me to come home so I could say goodbye? I’d like to think so. But even if it was only a coincidence, I am glad I got to express my gratitude for her time with us.

James dug a deep hole beneath the elderberry, who now keeps three chickens within their roots. Mrs. Dashwood, the last remaining from our original Dashwood flock, is a little off kilter without her second in command. She hasn’t laid an egg in years but sat on an egg Sia had laid for a few hours Saturday before James shooed her out of the nest and removed the egg.

The Dashwoods never roosted because Mrs. Dashwood injured her foot when they were still young and just moved outdoors to the coop. They all four piled like puppies into a corner to sleep, usually all of them trying to climb beneath a long-suffering Elinor. But Mrs. Dashwood is not left alone in her sleeping corner!

A couple weeks ago Sia began picking on Lucy and decided she was no longer allowed up on the roost at night. So Lucy had been slowly working her way into the Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood sleeping pile. And now that Elinor is gone, Mrs. Dashwood has Lucy to keep her company.

Elinor found pleasure in terrorizing Ethel for some reason. She’d just have to take a step towards Ethel and Ethel would scream and run away. And if Elinor was in front of her when they were walking up into the main garden, Elinor would often stop in the middle of the path. Ethel would not be allowed to walk around her on the path, and was forced to make a wide circle to get past her, sometimes going across half the garden to do it. I’m pretty sure Elinor thought it was funny. It made poor Ethel a very anxious chicken. Now, without Elinor, Ethel might be able to relax a little bit. Every time James or I was out in the garden Saturday, Ethel would come over to say hi and see what we were doing. She wouldn’t stick around like Elinor, but maybe she will eventually.

We are all adjusting to to the new flock dynamic, but it has been made a little easier by the arrival of spring for real. The crocuses are blooming beautifully and after years, it seems they are finally spreading into a nice patch of purple. The scilla have begun blooming too. Buds are swelling on all the trees and shrubs, the walking onions are big enough to eat already, and a few perennials are lifting their heads too.

We finally managed to prune the apple trees on Saturday in spite of some giant wind gusts. I also walked the garden saying hello to everyone and pointing out to James the beds that need to be readied for planting first so he could work on them if he has time and I’m not around. We also turned over the rain barrels which are right now collecting the rain that is falling. There might be a frost or two left before mid-May, but there won’t be any big long-term freezes to jeopardize rain barrels full of water.

We dug up a few sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke) roots and planted them just on the other side of the chainlink fence in the chicken garden. That way they can stealthily spread into the chicken garden and the chickens will be less likely to dig them up. The current patch has been in its location for a very long time and a refresh will be good. Also, when the new mulberry arrives, it will be taking up part of the current patch. So there’s that.

Seed starting is going great except the goji berry seeds I planted three weeks ago never sprouted and they should have by now. So I am soaking a few more seeds and will put the pots on the heating mat to give them a warm boost. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Today I seeded in pots some kale. I will direct sow kale too, but it will be nice to have a few plants that have had a head start. I also seeded in pots a bunch of French marigolds from seeds I saved from last year that came from seeds I had saved the year before, and before, and before.

I’m off to San Diego on Thursday to visit my mom for a few days. I looked into taking a train or a bus, but sadly, these are not truly viable transportation options and I will have to fly. I hate airplanes and the humiliating experience flying has become, not to mention the CO2 emissions. I think it’s been three or four years since I was last on a plane and I am not looking forward to it. It will be nice to see my mom though and my sister might be able to drive down from Los Angeles for a day or two I hope.

After I return, I’m pretty sure we will have tipped into outdoor gardening season. Peas! I can hardly wait to begin fretting over squirrels digging up the pea seeds!

Reading

• Book, Poetry: Midwinter Day by Bernadette Mayer. A book-length poem that takes place over the course of one day on Winter Solstice. But during the course of the day we move backward and forward through time with memories, hopes, and dreams. So that the shortest day of the year actually holds all the days past and present.
• Poem: Things to Remember As This World Dies by Chris Taylor. The XR Rebel Library article has some good “Thrutopian” book recommendations from Manda Scott, but scroll down to read the breathtaking poem by Chris Taylor.
• Poem: […] by Fady Joudah. The titular poem from Joudah’s new collection is devastating. If I didn’t already have my own copy of the collection, I’d have to go buy one. Joudah is Palestinian American.
• Article: On Letting Go of the Idea of “Keeping Up” by Molly Templeton. Templeton does it again. This time she questions reading as competition. But competition isn’t quite the right word, it’s more a combination of things that leads readers to say things like “I’m so behind in my reading.”
• Article: “Nobody and nowhere will be safe”: Experts say we can’t hide from climate change. In case you’ve been hearing or seeing people and journalists talking about moving to the Great Lakes region of the US to escape climate change, this article is a reminder that as long as you live on planet Earth, there is no escape from climate change

Listening

• Podcast: Planet Critical: Global Oil Depletion with Alister Hamilton. When do you think we will run out of oil? Hamilton, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh and founder of Zero Emissions Scotland, has worked with his colleagues to figure out the data. Their report, and they aren’t the only ones who have come to this conclusion, reveals that the world will no longer have access to oil sometime in the early 2030s. It won’t be that there is no more oil available, only that the Energy Return on Investment will become negative, meaning it will take more energy to extract the oil than the energy the extracted oil will produce. Kind of like using two gallons of gas to drive to a gas station to buy a gallon of gas. Who would do that? No one! And of course neither you nor I nor the world is anywhere near being prepared for not having oil anymore.

Watching

• Series: Three Body Problem. I read the book back when it first came out. It was good, a very slow burn, and extremely science heavy. While I enjoyed the book, I never got around to reading the rest of the books in the series. I’ve only watched one episode, but the series is really good so far, so maybe it will motivate me to read the other books. Or not. I could just wait for the rest of the series instead. Heh.

Quote

I was going to tell about garbage
And how taking it down to the yard
Ought to be a lucky pleasure at least compared
To any other place I’ve taken garbage down to
But like recovering from an illness or grief
And rejoicing for a while in a new ordinary way of being
And then forgetting you were ever sick or aggrieved,
Pleasure without any change becomes a chore
Though in some old-hat division of labor
to change the subject
Lewis has become so good at dealing with it
I mean the garbage

From Midwinter Day by Bernadette Mayer, page 103

James’s Kitchen Wizardry

A friend of mine sent me various chocolate treats for my birthday. One of the treats was a small bag of chocolate covered cashews. I had James break them up and bake them into cookies. Tasty! The cookies also have oatmeal and dates in them and no added sugar. Substantial and not for the feint of heart.