Chickens are kind of dumb. If they weren’t protected by humans through domestication, I think they might become extinct in a few years. But I really like them, and not just because our chickens have given us a steady supply of healthy eggs for years. Chickens are just fun. They are not only friendly and like to follow you around, but they do all sorts of weird things just like other pets do.

This time of year our chickens free-range, but they are so used to interacting with my family, dog, and cats that they poke their noses into everything, including our house. A few days ago I chased a Barred Rock out of our kitchen after I caught it eating a plate of leftovers it had knocked off a countertop. This afternoon I found one nesting in a box of screws in the garage. I had opened the garage door in the morning because the temperature had climbed to 60 degrees.

Unfortunately, while I went to fetch my son, Jake, to show him where this dumb chicken was nesting, he had jumped out of the box of screws and broken both eggs. Maybe I was dumb! I should have grabbed the eggs first.

We have a lot of big trees in my area of Oregon. My three sons play in them often, sometimes alarming Mom with how high up they can climb. I wandered the woods with my youngest son, Sam, for a couple of hours yesterday and got a lesson in the various names they have given different parts of the forest, mostly names borrowed from the movie, Lord of the Rings. The backwoods is really a wonderful place for kids.

Patriots by 17 over the Giants. This even if Eli matches his stellar performance over the last four games. The Giants can obviously score on the Patriots’ defense, but the Patriots will simply explode on offense. Moss will have over 100 yards, including a long touchdown. Welker will go wild with short passes. Maroney will run for a 100 yards, and Brady will pass for more than 300. You can’t fight destiny.

I was the cook this morning at our house since my three sons had a day off from school for teacher conferencing. Lenie went to work. I don’t know much about cooking but I make delicious fried potatoes mixed in with fried garlic, onions, carrots, and home-grown scrambled eggs.