
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.