Hello World

The world is getting more and more insane. I’ve been paying attention but I need a break so I’m stepping back from the news for a bit to focus on good things.

We have chicks!!!!!

I think a chicken egg hatches in 21 days. I couldn’t remember exactly when I suspected our hen was broody, but I thought it was surely longer than 21 days. Just when I gave up hope and was going to let the hen out of her “maternity ward,” I thought I heard a soft chirp-chirp-chirp. I didn’t see anything, though, and wondered if it had been my imagination. Then, finally, a few days ago, I saw a chick! It is very tiny. EJ exclaimed that it’s about the size of a golf ball. A day or so later, I saw TWO chicks! There are about three more eggs in the nest. It would be cool if they also hatched although the hen isn’t sitting on them as constantly as she was. We shall see.

We’ve bought chicks from the farm store several times, but we’ve never before had a hen hatch her own eggs. It’s a unique experience watching the hen with her chicks. I don’t see the chicks often because they hide under their Mama. So sweet. It’s nice to see new life in the midst of world chaos.

As you know, my son is working as a deckhand on a bulk carrier on the Great Lakes. People enjoy watching ships and there are live stream cameras set up in various places around the Great Lakes to enable people to watch them in real time. Each separate camera is aired on a YouTube channel. This enables EJ and I to watch our son’s ship as it passes the cameras. People chat at YouTube as they watch the ships. Admins operate the cameras and share info about each ship going by.

The other day, my son messaged that he was on bow watch at the front of the ship. I told him to wave as his ship passed one of the cameras. Then in chat I asked the admin if he could zoom in the camera because our son was on bow watch. He happily agreed and we saw our son waving. I took a screenshot. and was able to record that part of the livestream using my phone to video the computer screen. My son waving was also mentioned on the boat-watching Facebook page. LOL.

So then at the next camera/channel a short time later, someone mentioned that they had seen a guy waving from the “doghouse” and they wondered if he was still there. I replied, “That’s my son. I told him to wave as he went by. He’s still there.” At the next camera that the ship passed–the next day–the admin zoomed in specifically to search for my son on board, even without me asking. We got to watch him work on the ship. Before trees blocked our view, we saw him prepare to swing over the side of the ship in the bosun chair to moor it while they waited their turn through the locks. Here is an example of a deckhand swinging down in a bosun chair in this video that I found at Youtube.

So it appears that JJ is becoming a bit well-known. And, of course, the admins are beginning to know that we, his parents, watch for him. There is more of a connection when you know someone–even indirectly–who is working on a ship. I tell JJ, “People are watching for you!” We think it’s rather funny and it’s fun. Technology that lets us watch our son as his ship passes in real time is amazing.