So, about the chickens...

I promised you chicken coop updates. Here’s the first installment. (Since I know not everyone is a fan, I’ll make sure to title them clearly so you can opt out if chickens aren’t your thing. But truly, there is nothing more relaxing than watching a small pack of chickens scratching around in search of bugs. If you were a dinosaur fan as a kid, they answer all sorts of questions you may have had, like what kind of noises did dinosaurs make? Especially with the Silkies, the fluffy, feathered ones, it’s like having a herd of tiny dinosaurs roaming around in the backyard.)

First off, one thing we hadn’t planned on for the week we’d spend building the new coop was bad weather—really bad weather! My vision of day-long free ranging following by nights in part of the old coop that I’d moved up under our deck were dashed by torrential rain. Lots of soaking wet chickens got to come inside for a nice bath and blow-dry. In fact, I suspect some of them ran around in the rain extra because they enjoyed it so much. No one seems to be worse for the wear.

And by Friday afternoon, the coop was framed and well on the way to finished. We got the coop pre-made from a family-run company in North Carolina, and the guys they sent down to put it together are really amazing. Their skills are making me very grateful I’m not doing it myself.

The chickens have been largely unperturbed by all the construction; a little bit confused at bedtime but really enjoying themselves otherwise.

It’s good to see a project on the way to completion. I’m sure there will be more pictures of happy chickens over the weekend.

Lots of serious stuff to talk about in the coming week. Increasingly, we’re facing the prospect of the first-ever indictment of a former president. That’s going to be a test for our already fragile institutions and a strain on the cohesion of the national psyche. Civil discourse will be more important than ever.

As my friend Norm Eisen wrote in an NYT piece this morning, “The core American idea is that no one is above the law. If there is serious evidence of crimes, then a former president should face the same consequences as anyone else. If we do not hold accountable those who engage in this kind of misconduct, it will recur. It would be the trial of the 21st century, no doubt a long and bumpy ride—but a necessary one for American democracy.”

A bumpy ride indeed. As we prepare, enjoy the chickens.

We’re in this together,

Joyce