A glimpse into farm life for those who didn't live
on a farm, and stories that will bring back
exciting memories for those who did or still do!
"I thought I heard the rooster say something."
"If you don't work, you don't eat."
"I heard someone yell, 'The barn is on fire!' "
"To say that my brothers and I were stupid was, most of
the time, an understatement."
"Sometimes, even Mom thought it was funny!"
Gathering Eggs - From the book
I still don’t know why I was scared of chickens and roosters.
When I watched someone else gather the eggs on the farm,
it seemed so simple. Just reach in under the chicken
and help yourself to the eggs. The chickens must have seen me
coming and had made plans to get me.
First, the rooster strutted around and pretended he was in charge.
I didn’t make eye contact and went straight to the nest to get the
eggs. I got all the eggs from the nests with no chickens in them.
Now, there were still more eggs to get from under two hens.
My first attempt was stopped short when one war-like chicken
pecked my hand. I jumped back, hit my hand on the top
of the metal nest, and broke two eggs in my basket.
The little chicken look pleased, and I thought I heard the
rooster say something.
The best part of this whole ordeal was that no one else was there.
I had two options. #1 - I could just leave now and lie to my aunts
, saying that I had gotten all the eggs. #2 - I could chase these two
idiot chickens off their nests and then help myself.
Number one would not work because someone at church
would ask me if I had told any lies this past week, and I would
have to lie again. God had created these hens to protect
their eggs. He created me to get the eggs for food.
So, now it was the hens or me!
In what I thought was a brilliant move, I beat on the
side of the metal nests, the chickens took off in a huff,
I grabbed the eggs, fed the broken eggs to the dog,
and delivered the egg basket to the house, as if nothing
had ever happened. The rooster acted as if he had chased me away.
Calling someone “Chicken” never had the same meaning
for me ever again.
Unfortunately, chickens lay eggs every day.
OHIO FARM STORIES - 89 pages
E-BOOK