Winter Outside, But Warm in My Kitchen

   

     The next morning scratching noises could be heard coming from the cardboard box on my kitchen floor.  Four sets of tiny feet were busy burying their water source in wood shavings.  Of course, they didn't realize what they were doing, but an upside down fruit jar at the far end of the box stood submerged in shavings. The feeder dish suffered the same fate; I stayed busy that first day. Late that night when I slipped into the kitchen to check on them, I stood mesmerized. Neither the cold outside nor the new surroundings had affected the little charges one bit. Sound asleep they were, four fuzzy yellow balls huddled in the corner 'neath the warming light.

     Two weeks had flown by when my little friend Kate and her grandmother came over and we gave them names. The Araucanas were named for Meg and Jo, from Louisa Mae Alcott's Little Women, and Maddie and Minnie seemed perfect for the Rhode Island Reds. We took turns holding each one because my friend Beth, in Glorieta, New Mexico always held her baby chicks letting them go to sleep in her lap.  After they were grown, you could still hold them. I knew I wanted to do the same with mine.

    One day when I was holding Maddie, I saw pinfeathers coming out on her wings. Oh my! They're growing so fast, I think I'd better pour myself a cup of coffee, and while it's warm and cozy in my kitchen, I'll just sit a spell and watch them grow.