Well folks, it’s August and it’s H-O-T! What more can I possibly say? My brain and my body have been overheated a tad bit, so I could probably stop right there because “It’s HOT”, is really enough said!

But I do have a little story to tell so I will trudge forward…. Two of my Grandsons have chickens and they have the duty of gathering the eggs everyday. They have one hen in particular that has gone “Broody”, meaning she is a “mother hen” and will sit on her eggs, her sisters eggs, and any egg that gets laid in her nest. Now you can look at this from two points of view. One angle is that about 3 times a year the boys will go out and find ONE baby chick! I kid you not, just one! We’ve decided that maybe she hides one or perhaps the boys just don’t get them all (which we all know is the truth). Nevertheless, that is a wondrous experience for a couple of youngsters and really for a couple of “oldsters” too! Of course there are always two sides to a story so I must tell you about the other side of “goin’ broody”. A “mother hen” is not too keen on letting you take her eggs. She will peck the fire out of you if you try to rob her nest. The down side is that the boys will leave her be and about three times a year we have to clean out a nest full of spoiled eggs. This scenario unfortunately just took place and with temperatures over 100 degrees cleaning it out was well, not pretty. The funny thing is, besides the nose holding, the gagging, and the gasping for air after holding their breath so long was watching them run and scream (my daughter included) after they started exploding! If you have not ever heard a rotten egg explode it literally sounds like a gun shot or a fire cracker go off. I don’t think I have ever seen them run so fast! I think they were actually more startled by the sound than the stench! The stink came second! After they caught their breath we began talking about the whole ordeal and somehow in the conversation the little game “The last one’s a rotten egg” worked it’s way in. I’m not sure how that game started but I would bet it was very similar to what just took place.

Later, I started thinking about other adages or proverbs (not the biblical kind) but the little sayings that have a lot of truth behind them like “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” and “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. I then began asking other folks what farm sayings they have heard their family use. There is a farm proverb out there for every animal. See if any of these ring a bell…”High tailin’ it”, “Bull in a china closet”, “Black sheep of the family”, “You can’t root with hogs and keep your nose clean”, “Chompin’ at the bit”, and “Do not look a gift horse in the mouth”. So many of these are going to be lost in the past as time marches on and the farm life is left to commercial farmers. So all of you micro farmers and ranchette owners out there let’s bring back the farm adage! Since I’ve been head high in hay baling I’m going to start with “Make hay while the sun shines”, which translated means, do it now or the opportunity may pass.

Happy Adages, I mean August!