Egg!

The chickens came to live here 6 months ago - almost to the day. I have loved watching them grow from cute little baby chicks into those awkward things that look like they are constantly falling over each other into beautiful hens. And this morning I discovered my first egg. My first reaction was exactly what I expected it would be. Oh my god, one of the hens laid an egg. I carried it gently inside and then a myriad of thoughts ran through my mind. Ummm... this came out of the hen's butt. Am I really going to eat it? But the fact is that I couldn't wait to crack it open and see the difference between what I grew and what I buy. There is a real shell. Hooray! And yes it did look a little more yellow than what I'm used to. But no orange or redness. Another hooray. Now what to do? Put it in the pumpkin bread or a scrambled egg? I decided that because it was the first I wanted to know everything about it unadulterated by milk or hidden away inside a loaf of bread. I mixed it up and was stunned at the yellowness that abounded. The thing was almost all yolk. I carefully cooked it like the tiniest of omelettes and I have to say it was delicious. It definitely had a flavor to it. I wanted to call it gamey but not really so I guess I'll call it farmy. I'm just so happy and proud of what I have accomplished even though I really had little to do with it. When I returned to feed the girls another thought occurred to me. How strange it is that a mother would lay an egg and just walk away from it. I literally found it in the dirt outside the coop which means it must have been laid yesterday when they were roaming about. The laws of nature astound me. How many eggs does a young hen lay before she thinks about sitting on the thing to hatch it? It's all so interesting and so much fun getting closer to the earth.