GRAMMA'S TALES

When I was little, I lived on a big farm with my Momma and Daddy.   When I woke up in the morning and looked out my upstairs bedroom window, I could see green pastures in every direction.

In some fields, I could see black and white cows slowly munching their way across the green pasture.  In another, white wooly sheep were eating the grass as they walked toward the sheep shed.

In the pasture by the chicken coop, a few chickens had crawled through the fence and were pecking at sweet clover blossoms.  The chickens were not supposed to be in the pasture.   The pasture was dangerous for chickens.  A red fox could run out from the woods and eat them.  One day, I saw a big hawk fly down and pick up a baby chick that had wandered into the pasture.

My Daddy always told me, "If you see the chickens in the pasture, go out and shoo them back through the fence into the chicken yard."

Chickens are dumb animals!   As soon as I got them back in the chicken yard, another bunch would sneak through the fence.

Cows and sheep were content to eat the grass in their pasture.  They knew they were safe there.  But chickens—dumb!   They always wanted to be someplace they weren't.

One day, I was playing with my cat on the back porch.  I had just put a doll bonnet on her head and was trying to settle her down in the doll buggy.  I heard my Daddy calling for my Momma and me.

"Come here quick!" he yelled.

Momma came out the back door, grabbed my hand and together we ran to Daddy's side.

"Storm's coming," he said as he looked up at the sky.  "We gotta get the animals in."

My Momma knew just what to do.  She ran down to open the sheep shed door and started herding the sheep inside.

I looked up at the black clouds.  "What's happening?" I asked Daddy.

Daddy knelt down beside me and said, "Listen a minute.  Can you hear the wind?   There is a lot of wind in those dark clouds."

I could hear the distant roar of the wind in the sky.  I felt shaky inside my stomach.   Kind of like you feel just before you throw up?

"Do you think you can get the chickens rounded up and into the coop while I go bring the cows into the barn?"

"Sure I can, Daddy," I said, trying to sound brave.

I ran into the chicken yard and starting shooing the chickens toward the coop.   At first the door blew shut and scared the chickens back out into the yard.   I got a big piece of wood and propped the door open.  Then a gust of wind lifted up a chicken and blew it into the corner of the fence.   That scared all the other chickens who started cackling and jumping around and flying up into the air.

Chickens can't fly like birds, so I knew none of them would fly away, but if I couldn't keep them on the ground, I certainly could not get them into the coop.

I ran to the granary barn and grabbed a metal pail and put a scoop full of corn in the bottom of it.

I rattled the pail and called, "Here chick. Here chick, chick."

I threw a handful of corn in the doorway of the coop and started shooing the chickens toward it.   When the chickens saw the corn, they started up the wooden ramp and into their coop.

I slammed the door shut with a bang and put a wooden stick in the latch.   I could hear the chickens inside the coop, cackling and carrying on, but at least the dumb things were safe.

Momma and I ran for the house and got in the back door just as a huge clap of thunder sounded.   Daddy came running up the pathway with an empty feed sack held high over his head to protect him from the rain and hail that was pelting down.

It was a terrible storm!

Hail came down so fast and hard that it broke two windows in the kitchen.    It put dents in our car that was sitting in the driveway.   It thundered so loud that it made the house shake and the windows rattle.

I was scared!  I didn't like thunder and I sat curled up on the living room couch with my fingers poked down as far as they would go into my ears.

At least the animals were safe in their sturdy barns and when the storm was over; we could see a rainbow over our green pastures.