Recently, when one of us goes out to check for eggs, we have to move Foghorn out of the nesting box. She is our brooder and the one laying the pinkish white eggs. Every evening we have found her hunkered down over the two golf balls we put out there to trick them into laying in the nesting box and whatever eggs have been laid that day. The number ranges from zero to three. "How many eggs today?" has trumped "How was your day?" in this house. We noticed Foghorn getting serious about the brooding sometime last week. I went out there to check for eggs and there she was. I stroked her back and asked her to move over, which she dismissed with a throaty humming sound. I finally just had to gently lift her up to get to the three eggs under her. I marveled at how warm the eggs were as I carried them to the kitchen. I've decided that should be a spa treatment of some sorts, holding incubated eggs in the palms of your hands while lounging in a lavender blanket with cucumber slices on your eyes.  

Foghorn is a very good brooder. I've gone out there to find her with zero eggs under her, just the golf balls. She's never really that upset when I make her move. In fact I think she seems a little relieved. The idea of sitting there until that golf ball hatches is such a huge responsibility. It could also be that she feels like she's protecting the eggs for us. I can relate to Foghorn's broodyness. Often there are times when I feel like I am sitting on my own eggs of creativity. I'm just sitting on them, keeping them warm until one of those eggs hatches. Unlike Foghorn's eggs, I know that eventually one of those eggs will hatch or go sour. I've got some eggs that I need to hatch now. I just need to sit on them for a little bit longer.

So, this is what my Fall evenings are starting to look like. I get home, put away the bike or scooter, I scoop up a puppy who is so excited to see me and can't believe I've been gone all day, and I walk out to the chicken coop to check for eggs. After dinner I sit and brood on my own egg thoughts. I am thankful for those creativity eggs. They give me a sense of purpose, but I am also thankful for the time I spend brooding on them. It gives me time to plan out and speculate about what kind of creative little chicks they'll be once they hatch. I am thankful for the reminder that it's OK to brood. I am thankful for good sleeping nights and silly puppies. I am thankful for productive days of work where I leave at the end of the day with a brain full of science. I am thankful for those friends celebrating birthdays this week (you know who you are). I am thankful for colored eggs and I am thankful for you.

Here's to a weekend full of baseball, movies and vampire pumpkins. And here's to a truly Thankful Friday.