Stupid things homesteaders do

Ever had a raw egg crack in your jeans pocket? Neither had I, until this morning.

On some mornings, the hens put in less than their daily quota. This morning, I only found two eggs in the nest box, and I popped one in each pocket and continued to feed the birds. This really wasn't that unusual - I've carried up to four eggs in my jeans pockets, with never a mishap.

But not today. Somehow over the last several weeks of egg collecting and chicken feeding, somewhere along the way, having an egg in each pocket became old hat. Somewhere along the way, it became routine. So routine, in fact, that I forgot the egg was there.

And as I rounded the corner of the compost bin, I smacked my hip squarely right on the post.

At first there was just an awakening; a sudden realization that the pop I'd heard was not my hip, it wa the egg that I put in my pocket. In that second I looked down at my pocket, and it looked oddly deflated; the shape of a cracked eggshell easily visible. The next second was dread. I wondered if the raw egg would drip through my
pocket. The third second was cold. Just cold. The egg was rapidly advancing towards my knee.

By this time I was hopping briskly back to the house holding my jeans away from my leg, sincerely wishing I could lose them right there in the yard.

So, let this be a cautionary tale to all you homesteaders. I hope you are smarter than I am, and never carry an egg in your pocket.