Sometimes, in the midst of very hard work, it's easy to lose sight of just why I'm doing all this. I mean, I could go buy an egg at the store if I really wanted. I could avoid all these dry, calloused thumbs and sore knuckles, all the eternally-dirty fingernails, the sweat, blood (yes, there was plenty putting up the woven wire fence) and tears.
But then the day comes that the work is finished, and the payback comes in very unexpected ways.
After the fence was up a few days ago, chicken safely rummaging about inside, I was walking back towards the house when I noticed an incoming line of rain clouds overhead. I ducked under the pavilion of the barn just in time to avoid getting drenched, and with my bolt clippers in one hand, and a bag of chick grit in the other, I plopped down on a nearby block of firewood to enjoy a beautiful spring rain. It was an incredible sight and I sat hushed in awe as the rain poured steadily all around me.
It let up about 10 minutes later and moved off just as quickly as it had arrived, and as I continued my journey back towards the house, I was feeling significanlty more relaxed and thankful.
If it wasn't for the chickens... if it wasn't for the hard work I put in over the last week, those precious 10 minutes would never have happened. It was enough to remind me that there is more to this lifestyle than just the free eggs. For me, it is about more time spent outdoors, about personal responsibility and accomplishment, about becoming intimately involved in nature.
It all seemed very much worth it.
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