The Forbidden Zone

Well, our battles, described in my last post, continue.

A couple days ago, we did a load of laundry. Well, we tried. Our washer’s error code, Elf 9, reared his ugly head several times. We took turns trying to clear the code. One of the times EJ did it, he said, “We have a new code: Elf 3.” I asked, “You know what that means, don’t you?” EJ said, “What?” I said darkly, “Elf 9 has called in reinforcements.” Sigh.

After EJ extended the fencing higher, Richard VI, our rooster, no longer escaped. I mocked him: “Hey, Richard, why haven’t you escape the fence lately? What? You can’t? What a pity.” Richard didn’t say anything but now I think he was taking several days to test the fence for vulnerabilities. Apparently, he found them. Today was the third time in three days that he’s escaped. He’s a clever rooster.

At least one of the young chicks, born this Spring, is a rooster. We’ve heard him (or them if its more than one) attempting to crow. It’s a funny sound. A young rooster’s crow sounds like a teenage boy whose voice is changing.

Thankfully, the weather is no longer as sweltering hot. However, Canada’s burning forests are filling Michigan with toxic smoke, which is much worse. Yesterday was extremely bad; the air quality was at the most extreme level. The sky was a thick golden haze. I’ve insisted EJ stay inside because the smoke agitates his asthma. For the first time in years he’s had to use his inhaler. We dug out the air purifier that JJ left behind when he moved to Alaska and set it up next to EJ’s chair. I went outside as little as possible to take care of the chickens. Every time I went outside, I was hit with a strong smoke smell that made me cough, my head hurt, and my lungs feel a bit tight. It was like standing in the smoke of a nearby campfire.

EJ said that he’s heard from Michiganers on X that some of their chickens are dying because of the toxic air. We are concerned about our chickens but there is really nothing we can do to protect them since their coop is not airtight. I do keep the big door closed and open only the small chicken-sized door. I don’t know if it will help any. So far the chickens seem to be doing ok.

Our “tamed” feral cat Harvey came into the garage Wednesday evening so I shut him safely in for the night. He doesn’t always come in at night. I wasn’t sure what to do yesterday morning because he prefers to be outside. I opened the garage and let him and Theo out, but when I noticed that they were both staying near or in the garage, I shut them in. I’ve kept them in the garage since. I always apologize, especially to Harvey, for not letting them out. “It’s for your safety,” I say.

Today I went out to rescue another young tufted titmouse–the third so far this year. This one didn’t hit the window. He (or she) somehow clung to the window screen and maybe didn’t know how to let go. I gently pulled him off and held him until he recovered and flew off. Before he left, I told him that he and his kin owe me yet another life debt. One day, they will all need to save my life. I don’t write the rules. It’s in the fairy tales.

Today the air is not so bad, but still bad enough to cause health problems. EJ and I wanted to stay inside until the smoke drastically lessens, but EJ needed to get a few items for his health. So we decided to make a quick trip in and out of the store, picking up a few groceries while we were there.

I took a few photos of the smoke-filled landscape as we drove there and back again. The landscape looked very dystopian. We considered our grocery run to be a quick foray into The Forbidden Zone.