Posted on by Dad4Gracie

Happy “Star Wars Day” to Everyone!

When Pearl was a few years younger, she got one of those wild and crazy ideas and designed her own storm trooper costume. Nowadays, we have to either bring out her old costume which doesn’t fit her any longer or pictures of her in her costume so that she can remember “the good old days.”

She was quite endearing back then—even though she was dressed as a “bad guy.” Of course, since she only had plastic parts, she relied on me to help with the construction of her costume.

Backyard Chicken Tip: Never trust chickens to handle glue—no matter how much they may beg you to use your glue! This is particularly true of plastic model glue.

So remember, there just may be a large number of chicken stormtroopers orbiting our planet in their own Death Star, and they may be ready to take over the world!

Backyard Chicken Tip: Chickens do get these ideas when they are very young! So monitor their television viewing carefully!

Posted on by Dad4Gracie

With All My Wits About Me, How Shall I Face Him?

My Most Formidable Foe

Sherlock had his Moriarty. Father Brown had his Flambeau. I have my Nameless Menace.

We are as opposite as night and day. And yet, I know that if I let down my guard, if even for a moment, I will have given away much more space in my life than I can spare.

He is a like a whirling disc, a metal coin rotating slowly above my head, one that follows me everywhere and knows my every move.

Yet this is my only solace—if it were not for such a monumental menace pursuing me, then I would never have any idea of how great a detective I truly am.

He is not a chicken, and yet around him are symbols seemingly made like chicken scratching that contain mysterious marks that hold special meaning known only to him, Mr. Nameless.

I imagine a tear appearing in one of his eyes. It will slowly roll down his cheek and land on me. It burns, this tear from eyes that now are unknowing of joy or connection to another heart.

Perhaps this is the face of the one who takes care of us chickens here in the Backyard Garden, our own Nate, only all grown up. That would make this a recurring vision of the future. But could our Nate, the one who brought us up and fed us every day, honestly be the Nameless Menace?

I have heard before from tunes sung by our visiting songbirds that our greatest friend can turn into our greatest enemy. Knowing that, I feel quite truly helpless.

No, it is not Nate who has somehow changed. It is an enchantment placed upon him that has turned him into someone who he is not. The enchantment was placed by someone he trusted and who lied to him. That same person stole from him what he would have generously given until there was nothing more to give, not even to those he considers family, his chickens.

Posted on by Dad4Gracie

My Name Is Pearl—Just Pearl

It really doesn’t matter if you remember to add “Amazing” or even “Miss” in front of it. I will still love you and want to entertain you!

The one who brings me food sat down recently to discuss some changes. One of those changes was to start this website as a substitute for a weekly newsletter we were producing on SubStack.

Think of it as stretching out over several days what we used to do in sometimes just one day.

Everything we write and illustrate here will go out with a notification to you and our other readers right away while it is just as fresh as an egg that has been laid by me or one of the other hens here!

The other change is that we will be including everything we would normally have here and Substack and Medium in ONE central location. We are going to be using Ko-Fi for that.

Imagine that! Everything in just one spot! No subscriptions, but you can donate to the chickens on Ko-Fi! And I’m sure they would appreciate you tremendously!

https://ko-fi.com/amazingpearl

Posted on by Dad4Gracie

The Importance of a Good Disguise

Here I am in one of my detective disguises. If you’re thinking that almost anything looks good on someone who has white feathers, you’d be quite right! And not only do I uncover truths about the world of birds, I also uncover truths about the world of people!

Early in my career as a detective, I learned the importance of having a good disguise. It wasn’t adequate to have only a few items—a detective who is worth anything has to go all-out! Discovery of one’s true identity by others can mean catastrophe! As you can see in the illustration above, no detail has been overlooked—including the genuine pearl decorating my bow tie.