Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Photo Therapy


Here's the deal: I am in a fowl foul mood. There aren't enough plates to crack, carbs to inhale, or primal screams I can utter, to give me relief. Stuff is going wrong, and people are frustrating me, and I really, really want to run away, and have an actual vacation... a change of scenery, but I cannot, because of...

You know what? Never mind.
If I cannot get away in real life, then at least I can try to escape in these photographs, these moments in my day, when I decided to just point and click, and try to lighten up.


Bright spots: Max dug a hole, and Maria removed the dirt, then William made it bigger, and Maria filled it with water, then it all drained out a gopher hole, then Max dug it up some more, and they all got extremely dirty, and happy.

And the chickens seemed to enjoy our company.


There goes Betty, Zoltar is watching out for hawks, Zelda is leading her chicks to happy pecking grounds, and the chicks... well, the chicks look goofy. They have random tufts of down, and big feet, and small heads, and just a lot of goofy parts that are all mashed together. Puff is in the nest box. She's acting broody, but she isn't laying. Poor Puff.

Bright spot: No Edison. Well, not entirely bright, because as much as he terrorized us, and needed to go, I still dreaded actually doing it, and I did cry, with him in the little cage, driving out to the happy farm that is his new home. But, hey. It's relatively peaceful out there in the chicken yard, and maybe we can keep the peace now that Edison is gone.


Oh my, how's he's grown!

Bright spot: as much as the children have grown, they still take pleasure in digging around our mountain. It's not quite as big as when we first piled up all the dirt from the trenches we dug, but it's a satisfactory heap of fun.


Max dug deeper, William dug tunnels, and Maria ran the hose and found buried treasures.


Alex and William discussed plans for turning one of the garden beds into a rabbitat... a sort of rabbit warren, where Sanka could dig and leap, and do rabbit-like things that rabbits like to do. They talked about a sky bridge between two of the beds, because they want parakeets.

Bright spot: listening to my children talk, laugh, plan, reflect, discuss, devise, design, and delight is one of my greatest pleasures.


What did he see? I was so absorbed in taking Benjamin Franklin's picture, I hardly noticed that his gaze was transfixed by something. Maybe it was that hawk that has been shadowing the chicas. Neither Benjamin or Chango has ever pestered our chicas, but the hawk has. Oh dear.

Bright spot: Zelda is a good mama, and keeps the chicks under her watchful gaze and well hidden in the shrubbery and underbrush. Underbrush? Do we have "underbrush?" Am I talking fancy, or do we actually have "underbrush?"


Have you guessed?
I have a new camera.
Lucky-lucky me.
It's big, and black, a bit heavy and very, very complicated.
I am still learning how to do everything thing with it.


I feel a teeny bit better. All the same problems are there, and it's probably not going to be rectified, but oh well.

More bright spots:
My car isn't dead, yet. I can still dare to drive it to the market, to the rooster orphanage.

Zoltar seems to actually like me, and yesterday he sat in my lap, dozing and cooing. It was very sweet, especially for this cocky little dude.

Chcikenblog only lost two readers during robotics season. At least, only two people bothered to remove the blog from their reader, many others have simply disappeared. The bright spot here is faint, but I am thankful for friends who have stuck it out with me, who still read chieckenblog Chickenblog. Thank you, friends.

Love and Rockets has launched successfully! Now, we have a dedicated Geek corner for all of our Maker Faire love.

I got the garbage and recycling to the curb, before the big trucks arrived to disappear refuse and debris. Magic!

My brother sends me iPhone pictures of Dominic and Marissa, so that even though I cannot drive up and see them in real life, I can be reminded that I love them, and wish that I could drive up and see them. Hmmmm... this is bright on one side and heartbreaking on the other...

I planted a pomegranate tree shrub. I hope it gets big and fruity, and makes a wonderful shade, and that come October one of our bright spots includes breaking open one of those jewel-like fruits and filling ourselves with sweetness.


Well, Zoltar. It's a brand new day, and I hear you calling. I might head out with the camera, ready to capture more bright spots, ready to fend off fowl a foul mood with more photo therapy.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous photos, I've really enjoyed coming here today. I do hope you feel better soon and are able to cheer yourself up with a lovely holiday.

CJ

ArtyZen said...

Natalie - lovely, positive, inspiring Natalie - hope your down soon moves up again.
Your photos are phantastic (oops) and your words are winning and your children are SO gorgeous.
I've read all your robotics entries with deep admiration for all the energy and enthusiasm and geekism on display - and not without a touch of envy - a lot of us aspire to your strong family values and community engagement.
'Never give up' has become something I say to myself and my children whenever we feel a bit down.
And I thank you!

tara said...

New camera! Nice pictures.
Sorry about the foul mood. Watching a mama chickens take care of her chicks certainly puts me in a good mood. No chicks for me this year so I will watch yours.

Rae said...

Great pictures! And congrats on the new camera!

natalie said...

Snap out of it sweet mamma. You are certainly one beautiful blogger. Love your photos. The chicken goes bagha! hehe!

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Well jeepers, how can I possibly wallow in self pity, with all of you here to cheer me?!

Crystal Jigsaw... thank you. A lovely holiday, or even two hours on a park bench would do me a world of good. I hope you will return to CB... I promise it is not always fowl!

Annie... Never give up! Good words, and some days I have to remind myself. No envy... I think everyone does their best, and finds suitable ways to give what they can. I feel fortunate to have a family that wants to engage in these activities, and a lot of what I have learned comes from them... it's part of why I get so spirited!

Tara... chicken watching, it's so good! I think we could make a therapy retreat based on digging holes and watching chcikens!

Rae... thank you. I am motivated to keep learning more... I am at the stage where it's too new, and I know very little, which can be discouraging. But I love it anyway!

Natalie... I'm snapping. I'm snapping! Or is that the wrong expression?! Oy. I know. I got to move forward.

judy in ky said...

Ack! I don't know what a "reader" is, but if I did I would have you on it. I have your blog on a bookmark, and I read every day. Does that count? I would never, ever stop reading your blog... it brightens my day. I love your family, robots, chickens, cats... the whole thing!

nikkipolani said...

Lots to cheer you, Natalie -- and more ahead! Looking forward to seeing your world through your new lens :-)

Miriam said...

I have been swamped in my own stuff, but I haven't gone anywhere! Your photos are lovely, and I can't wait to see more!

AmyB said...

Just found your blog today via Anna Maria Horner. LOVE! I am now the owner of 24 chickens. My daughter is participating in the local 4-H Chicken Project. I also, was in a fowl mood due to the volume of care these chicks have needed and finding your blog today brought a bright spot to me! This has been a great learning experience in the 3 short weeks we have started and seeing your blog made me realize I do want to continue this adventure, but not with 24 chicks.
Beautiful pics!

Rois said...

psst, way down here at the bottom of your comments, it's me I am still here.
Life has been so busy that I haven't read any blogs lately but I am back and happy to find you still here.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Michaela... it's a C-A-N-O-N, and I love what it can do, and how it feels in my hands, but I have SOOOOOO much to learn. Thank you for the photo praise... I am worried people will be expecting marvelous improvements from me, while I will be happy just to figure out more buttons!

Judy... ah, Judy. You are such a dear. Thank you for making time to visit here. I really do appreciate it.

Nikkipolani... thank you. The new lens is such a welcome treat, and I am trying to not suffer under the burden of wanting to be worthy!

Hello Miriam... I know what you mean, and I have been out of the blog loop too. Thank you for the photo praise. I love that the camera is *seeing* what I see... it's such a treat to have a new camera.

Welcome, AmyB! 24 chcikens?! Twenty-four?! is a lot of chcikens. BTW "chiekns" is my #1 typo, and I have about given up on ever getting it right... lol. Oh boy. Have you even got to the part where you figure out that some of those are going to be roosters?! We just got rid of a mean rooster, and I should have done it six months ago. I love my chicas, and the one remaining rooster. We hope the five chicks that hatched in March will all be hens. Thank you for visiting, and I hope we will chat again soon.

Rois! Busy days, I hear you. Always good to hear from bloggy friends.

Jennifer said...

I notice that online friendships, blog-to-blog visits, ebb and flow between most people. People wander in, stay a while, and wander on. It's ok. The best always stay ;-)

Frogdancer said...

I nearly bought a pomegranite twig a couple of days ago. I decided to think about it a bit more.

Inspirational Photography said...

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