It has been very, very cold, and the snow we got last week has led to some ice, which is never fun. I always worry about the chickens and ducks when it’s this cold. Poor Mary Jane looks pretty run down. It’s too cold for Ruby to run around the driveway, so she’s having to stay in the coop, which causes her a lot of stress. That poor girl.
This morning, we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and Ron always makes extra for the chickens because they really love blueberry pancakes. I lured some of the flock out of the coop with the pancakes, but a few birds, noticeably Mary Jane, did not come outside. I saved some pancake, and hollered toward the coop, “Mary Jane, hang on! I’m coming to the door!”
I knew she would be at the door, and she was. That bird is brilliant. I went in, and she gobbled. There were several other chickens in the coop. One was Ruby. That girl will always take treats from me. She demands them. But, in the coop. Ruby is not herself. Her anxiety is so high around the others that she won’t take treats. It breaks my heart. This cold is hard on her.
I told Ron that I was not used to these normal Maine temperatures in December. He told me to hang on because, in just a few days, we would be back to the new normal Maine temperatures. It’s supposed to be 52 degrees on Wednesday. I hope it melts some of the snow and that Ruby can run around in the driveway and be herself for a few days.
The toughest part of this cold is watching little Luna with the ducks. She is okay and getting around, but it was just a year ago that she was in the house with her broken leg. I can see the cold slows her down quite a bit. This morning, Ron was building a fire, so I got the ducks their warm water and put some extra straw down for them to have a cozy place to hang out near the water. When I stepped back to watch, I could see Luna hesitate to get into the warm water, like she was just struggling a bit to keep up with everyone, and it was all I could do to not go try to scoop her up and bring her into the warm house.
She would have run from me though. She prefers her people to me, and that’s all there is to it. But, my heart misses her so badly. So badly.
Readers, do you remember how Luna would sit with me when I graded essays and how much she loved to listen to music and watch television and how much she hated the broom and the color red? Luna taught me a lot, and I always love my teachers.
I think it’s supposed to rain on Wednesday. It’s going to be warm and raining. Luna is going to love that.
