Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Joel from the Woods Hole NPR station.  I had received an email that she had discovered the blog and was interested in doing a radio piece on the girls of Tilly’s Nest.  She came across us while researching farming on Cape Cod.  We reviewed our schedules, arranged a time and met yesterday morning.

It was a glorious sunny day.  We reached temperatures in the mid 60s. Joel, who is a chicken keeper herself, arrived mid-morning with a microphone and a tape recorder.  First, we went over to the coop to meet the girls.  Of course, as expected, Tilly was a microphone hog!  She is always the chicken who has so much to say and yesterday she did not let me down.  In fact, all of the girls were their usual delightful selves; chatting up a storm.  Joel captured the dialogue.  Crouched down at chicken level, I introduced her to all of the girls one by one in detail.

Soon enough, we ventured inside away from any background noise.  We had a lovely conversation.  It was informal and relaxed, despite knowing I was being recorded.  It was easy.  My initial nerves were replaced with comfort as I began to talk about my feathered girls. She asked me some typical questions as well as a few unexpected ones. We spent two hours together.  It was nice.

Before Joel left, we revisited the girls.  She wanted to record them talking one last time.  People are always surprised when they hear the girls.  Since they were a day old, I chatted with them.  As I would sit on an old worn out comforter in front of the brooder our conversations began.  I suppose they emulate what they learn, like our human children. I felt proud of them. It is true that you get out of life what you put into it. They were friendly, for the most part well mannered and polite.   From the beginning, our family gave the chickens much love and attention.  Yesterday, I realized that it had and does indeed make a difference.

I’m not sure if our story will end up airing on NPR.  It is still in a raw form that needs to be molded into some sort of airable piece.  We could easily end up cut by an editor who needs to make room for something more exciting than backyard chickens.  It doesn’t matter to me really.  Sure, I would love to hear our piece in some form on NPR but the greater joy was knowing that I was able to connect with Joel and she was able to connect with Tilly, Oyster Cracker, Sunshine, Dottie Speckles, Dolly, Feathers, Autumn and Fifi.