Thelma: Look. It’s now light until way late.
Louise: And the sun continues to shine brightly.
Alys: I’m putting you both in your box in the shed at night.
T: Why?
L: How come?
A: Because you both are continuing to sit on your roost, in your coop.
T: That’s because we like it here.
L: Yeah, we can see what’s going on.
A: What’s going on that’s so interesting that you aren’t going up to your box for food and water?
T: The birds are back.
L: Yes, we’ve seen magpies and chickadees, and swallows.

Thelma and Louse on their perch

T: On your cabin, two swallows have moved into the birdhouse.
L: And this winter, we had a visit from a Saw-whet owl. She was quite sociable – said that her former mate died and she was looking for a new one.
T: I think she did find that special someone – she took off one evening and never came back.
L: And there has been plenty of activity at the bird feeder since Pete started filling it again.
A: Yeah, yesterday the horses came up and were eating the seeds that had fallen on the wood box.
T: That really red one – she was first. She’s always first.
A: That’s Tyra. She’s food obsessed.
L: And the goats. The snow is too deep for them to walk directly in front of the shed, but we see them going to and fro when you let them out.
T: It’s also been quieter lately.
A: The wind turbine fell apart a few months ago – it was rather shrill. Even I think the quietude is nice.
L: The dog, she is getting older. She isn’t running around as much as she used to.
T: Yes, Alys, you had to convince her to go on a walk with you today.
A: Yes, I don’t know what was up with that.
T: Got a question for you.
A: Go for it.
T: Are you going to get another goat? Pete spent all the time and money building the goat shed addition last fall.
A: I don’t know. I’d like to get Stormy bred.
L: She’s a real sweetheart.
T: Less so Ranger.
L: He’s a sweetheart too.
T: Can male goats be sweethearts?
L: Only if their testicles have been lopped off.
T: How do you know about such things?
L: When we lived at Sun Circle Farm, I saw pigs get castrated.
T: That’s right. I got here first. It was the first thing that you told me about when you got here.
L: Yes. This made quite an impression on me. Made me glad to be born a chicken.
A: Is there anything I can do to make your lives better?
T: No, that is unless you can make spring come more quickly.
A: I think that it’s going to get pretty warm pretty soon and that we are going to have a quick and easy breakup.
L: We chickens don’t predict things.
T: No we do not. We pretty much live in the present.
L: And to a certain extent in the past.
A: Well then, I will do your predicting for you. Just remember what I said, breakup, quick and easy this year.
L: Roger.
T: Over and out.

Next: 100. 4/10/20: Revisiting the White Highway