My Tetra Tint (say it like the commercial "you lee-int licker") pullet is so funny. She likes to perch, not unlike a pet bird. I know because we had two cockatiels that literally flew from somewhere to us in when we lived in FL. The one time my son Nicholas was pretty sure his stepfather was GOD-like. Sophia was a new baby and Nicholas was running in and out of the house talking about catching a wild parrot. Where we lived, there were wild green parrots flocks. They are so loud, but such a sight to see. I had thought Nick was imagining catching the wild parrots, which was next to impossible because they spook really easy and seldom landed in our particular neighborhood. Plus when they did land it was only a brief stop. Anyway, Rusty gets home from works and we are just beginning to catch up and Nicholas comes out with a toy bug net. He excitedly tells Rusty about the wild parrot. I add in the fact that he has been "parrot hunting all day." Nicholas loved to catch lizards and bugs and anything else a boy who lives in FL catches. Nicholas asks Rusty if he can catch him. So, Rusty says ok and walks out the door. Well, there was a bird on our tree, and it was not a green parrot. It was white and gray and yellow! Warren holds his finger in the air and damn if that bird didn't come flying down and LAND on his finger! You can see how a young boy about 6 would think that was The Divine. All we needed was the miracle music piped in, and perhaps Lassie too with a few barks. The other time my oldest daughter was outside with her neighborhood friend and yet another cockatiel comes along, but this one climbed up her leg, and she came home with it, shocked and happy. I have also had parakeets and finches. So, yes, I have had some experience with "pet" birds.
Back to Tetra tee-int. Today I caught her perched up on the edge of the brooding pen. Her feathers are working! She is older than all of the other chicks. So, I take her and go sit on the couch with her perched on my finger, then on my shoulder. I am watching TV talking to the girls, not paying much attention to her. She is being sweet, doing little pecks at my earring and hair and shirt getting my attention once in awhile. She settles in and seems happy to hear my voice. All of a sudden she pecked my eye! It still hurts! lol. If anybody has seen the little beak of a chick, it is sharp and pointed, made by mother nature so one can peck out of the eggshell. So she pecked MY EYE! I started laughing even though I was in pain. The girls laughed too. Sophia said, "Mommy you need to write on your blog about this". So here I am, 1:00 am, one eye still hurting and faithfully blogging. I needed to blog anyway. So thanks Tetra Tint. I guess we will call her Tetra. I asked Gary from
Feathersite if he had ever heard of one, and he told me it sounded like a fish. :-) It does. I hope I can get a few more of this unknown breed. Her calm demeanor was evident right away. I wonder what kind of a layer she is. My black sex-link hen is a laying machine, sturdy and can weather the cold well. Some chickens breeds are more fragile. I like a good hearty chicken that lays brown eggs. Tetra's eggs will in all likelihood be white, but there is a difference in the white eggs and the brown eggs, when you are talking fresh eggs. The brown eggs have a deep yellow, almost orange/yellow yolk. Where the white eggs are lighter, more yellow than the brown eggs. It is good to have a mix. PS I will be selling eggs once I get my new hens laying! Providing there are no losses. Last year we had a tragedy unfold. I lost my Rhode Island Reds. Some loss is expected when you have your chickens free roam. But this day it was a massacre. It could have been prevented too. I still can't even talk about it. All I can tell you is the whole mountain must have heard my wailing. Ugh. So I am darn happy to have a sweet pullet peck my eye. I am hopeful. I am really into my animals. I don't dress them or anything, but I love them. I think the only person in this family that gets it, is Sophia.
A friend that I met on facebook (through an game app or just the universe working it's wonderful ways) offered some duck eggs a few weeks ago to me. She gets it, I am sure! I have been watching her ducks hatch through the pictures she shares. I finally remembered to send her my mailing address today and asked her how much I should send along to cover the cost of the duck eggs and of course shipping. She said this,"
Dont send money and hurt my feelings, just hatch and ENJOY them. xxxxx" How wonderful is that?
One of my teachers often told me, "I had to get good-er at getting good". What that means is to accept that you are deserving of anything somebody may wish to give you, random or not. A compliment. A ride to the doctor. A gift. In this case, some duck eggs from somebody I have never met. See, because I know how much I enjoy giving, I get pleasure from it. I do not want the person to feel obligated. I want them to receive knowing it is from a good place. From a place of freedom and good will. I want them to enjoy the gift, for I will be filled with a certain kind of glowing calm joy being part of the beautiful act of random acts of kindness. I used to pay for person who was behind me at the toll over the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge in FL. I bought the person's coffee and doughnut who was behind me in the drive thru at
Dunkin Donuts. (Gosh, I miss that place!) I would carry stones in my medicine bag and if somebody seemed like they where lost, I gave them something to hold on to.
But this is not about the giving. In order for all of this to happen, there has to be somebody who is like, "wow thanks." It is your duty to get gooder at getting good. Why? Because. You are deserving. You have to stay open to the good that comes your way. Not closed! The universe needs to breath that kind if energy, in and out... not by just the giving, but by the humbling act of accepting. Stop yourself when you start thinking there are invisible strings attached. There are strings, but it is the string theory and quantum physics and all the things you don't see, but are very much there. A wild parrot might fly to your outstretched finger and bring magic or God to your home. The possibilities are endless. The results will ripple out to the world in the most beautiful ways.
As it has here now in West Virginia. Thanks Nicky for the ducky eggs, and for the experiences to come and for the inspiration. You are Wednesday's Wild and Wonderful Woman. :-)
~peace, crow
