Nobody Here But Us Chickens!

Time for a silly barnyard adventure!

It was Monday morning, and as we all know, Monday morning is quite possibly THE best time to have an adventure. All of the workaday people are back at work, and the woods and byways belong to ME.

My pals the Moose, Tiny Tiger, and the Anteater hopped into my daysack and joined me on my bike for a jaunt up to the Barrens via Tow Hill. The Moose is a trained orchid hunter. Like those drug-sniffing dogs, when he finds one, he sits down next to it and points to it with his nose.

So we were on a mission to find ORCHIDS, and in fact, those pretty pink ones that are called lady's slipper or moccasin flower. And we did in fact find several to many of those. But we're not quite there yet. . . .

The last house just before you get to the Barrens is turning into something of a farm property. There were chickens strutting about, and I could hear and see them as I approached. But I saw something I did not expect to see: several white-tailed deer, apparently hanging out with the chickens! The whole thing amused me - deer + chickens! - so I snapped a bunch of photos.

It's an automatic camera. Sometimes it focused on the deer. Sometimes, on the chickens. It was sort of random. Listen here, camera; *I'M* the photographer here! Supposedly, I'm the one in charge. So . . . some shots had the deer in focus. In others, it was the chickens.

So we all surveyed each other. And as I watched, the chickens marched around the deer just like they knew them. The deer were not at all phased by this, which surprised me some. You may note that there's a rooster behind bars - I'm not sure what his infraction was - and I think he wanted out. Or his picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. One of the two. "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!" he seemed to say.

In the end, I sort of sidled away with my camera, heading for the Barrens, and our orchid-fest. Sensing the loss of his potential for star power, and perhaps a much-desired feature on the Internet, the rooster began to crow mightily, and it scared the deer away! Thus endeth the tale!

Now, you may think I made this all up, but I'm just the girl with the camera, over here, minding my own biscuits, so life will be gravy! Our soundtrack song is Kacey Musgraves, with Biscuits. And you may enjoy the related tale of the Orchid Hunters at this link on Instagram.

Just hoe your own row and raise your own babies
Smoke your own smoke and grow your own daisies
Mend your own fences and own your own crazy
Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy
[With an emphasis on "own your own crazy," LOL!]