Yesterday the flock turned 20 weeks.  They are now capable of laying eggs and having baby chicks.  I can hardly believe that we are finally here.  It seems like reaching this point has been such a long journey.  However,the anticipation is awful!

I guess the best way to describe it is like a child waiting for Santa to arrive.  Remember how hard it was to fall asleep on Christmas Eve and how early you would wake up springing to life with anticipation on Christmas morning?

Unfortunately, the Christmas build-up seems to start earlier each year.  Gone are the days of waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas.  Already, store windows are aglow with holiday lights and evergreen decorations are beginning to appear hanging in the shopping malls.   Has Christmas has casted a shadow over Thanksgiving? Has my recent egg anticipation casted a shadow over my chicken enjoyment?

In such an instant society, we are not used to waiting for much.  Long gone are the days when you used regular snail mail for communication and when teachers used carbon paper to make copies.  We are living in the age of pagers, cell phones, email, xerox machines and text messaging.  We are an instant society.  We even have created instant mashed potatos.  Don’t get me wrong, I too have benefitted from this instant society.  However, I question what we are missing out on with our constant rush?

I worry sometimes in the rush of things that we are forgetting to enjoy the moments that we are in.   Take time in your day to just pause and relish in the little things; your child’s smile, cute scaly chicken feet, the sound of the wind, the smell of breakfast or even that second cup of coffee.  Savor these moments because they are shortlived and hardly noticible in today’s society.

One day my eggs will come.  I will probably have anticipation butterflies in my tummy with each day’s arrival when I peer in those nesting boxes for eggs.  I might even put an egg decoy in the box! Yet until the eggs arrive, I will try to take the time to chicken watch and enjoy their antics, personalities, language and humor.  Sometimes the best things in life are free, you just need to take the time to find them.