Cooped Up

Sunrise in the back yard.

It has been a few days since the chickens moved on to their next home, and I am realizing something important about them - they got me outside.

For 40 days I went outside, regardless of subzero temperature or wicked weather conditions. I had to, or the chickens would suffer. 

That is quite the motivator.

 

Sugar shack in a sugar maple grove down in the valley.

The hens were a compelling reason to get outside every single day, and sometimes several times a day, like if it was cold out and their water was freezing.

The day after the chickens left, I stayed inside the whole day, the first time I had done so since getting them. 

I felt off.

Entering the spruce forest.

It was nice having the routine of getting up with the chickens, and together watching the sun rise in the back yard every morning.

Now I have to get myself outside, which thankfully is not that hard to do given that our home is surrounded by nature.

But, in winter, it can sometimes be a challenge, and if we don't have a strong motivation, we tend to enjoy the indoor environment of our human coops.

That is good, but only to a point. Nature always beckons.

Brook at the bottom of the valley enters the ocean 6 km downstream.

Except for the picture at the top of this post, all other pictures are from a back yard hike I went on recently.

Just me - no chickens.  

I noted, though, that the hens didn't like the snow much, and preferred to spend snow days in their coop rather than free ranging.

When we say, "cooped up" we don't usually mean anything good. 

But it is not always a bad thing, either.

To a point.

Then I have to get out.

Storms alter the forest continuously, including knocking down big, old trees.