We were stunned to see the Farm Manager approach the aviary this morning. She usually staggers out in the “morning” but today it wasn’t much past dawn. We weren’t sure she even existed that time of day.
The hens noticed that the Bartender came out to give the sheep breakfast after the Farm Manager let them out of their pen and gave them graham crackers. This has never happened before. The Bartender is always the first one out. Today they ate crackers before breakfast, and didn’t even have to do any tricks!
The Farm Manager slogged out to the aviary through the mud, dumped a little cat food in a bowl, dumped the rainwater out of the chicken treat bowls and dropped some used corn in there. She moved quickly for no apparent reason and skipped the doves altogether, just glanced at them and moved along. We watched in silence as she threw some lettuce around, and then we all held our breath. Would she skip us too? Would she remember to give us duck food?
Cubicle dabbles in the green bowl while Shamrock waits his turn. I am back at the blue bowl with Boondock, Emilio, Vinny, and Boxcar.
She did. The Farm Manager scooped up some duck food, tossed it into our bowls and she was gone. Seriously, she pranced out of here and never came back. There was no Garden Party, the sheep hid in their pen during rain squalls, and the sun went down.
We were pretty sure the next bad news would be a visit from the pet-sitter. He’s okay, but he’s no Farm Manager. I don’t think he even knows our names. And anyway, it’s been years since we saw him. The Farm Manager is always here now. We were starting to get tired of the cats yowling about dinner when we heard the kitchen door open and close.
It was dark and we couldn’t quite hear her conversation with Charlie & Hamish. Hay bins opened and closed, crackers munched, and the sheep pen gate latched shut. We heard the schtuck schtuck schtuck of boots in the mud, headed our direction. Fortunately she headed straight for the cats and the inhaling-of-the-cat-food started almost immediately. We shuffled around in our bivouac under the birch tree. The hens in the barn fluttered a bit on their roosts. Only Pearly Mae jumped down, but she’s kind of weird. Anyway, the Farm Manager’s still around, but we’re hoping for a normal day tomorrow.
Thankfully yours, Norman
Stacy's Funny Farm 