One of Life's Lessons

As I look back to the days when I was a youngster I realize I had learned many things then that have stayed with me my whole life. One episode, which was a major learning experience, was the Chicken Coop Window Caper.

When I was around 10 or 12 years old my parents decided to raise a few chickens. My father built a small shed attached to the side of the garage. It was a crude structure with small openings for the chickens to go out to a small area, which was surrounded by chicken wire. This allowed the chickens to go in and out. To provide ventilation on the inside he also cut a window opening. It wasn't actually a window but simply an area about 2 feet square that was cut out of one of the exterior walls. The cut out piece was then hinged at the top and a latch held it open in the summer but it could be dropped down when the weather was cold.

My assigned job was to feed the chickens and gather the eggs. One autumn day I decided it was time to drop the windows because the weather was getting colder. I unhooked the latch and let the board come down to close the open window area.

No one had told me that chickens will lay eggs in any convenient spot and they seemed to enjoy that board when it was raised up. There must have been about 40 eggs there and they varied in age from a few hours to a few months. They all rolled out with many of them landing on me before they hit ground. As far as I can recall, not one egg survived the fall; all were broken.

If you have even smelled one rotten egg then multiply that smell by 40 and you get an idea of the way I smelled for the next few days. However, a lesson was learned and it stayed with me the rest of my life (so far) and I will pass it on to you. Just remember one thing: Whenever you go in to a chicken coop and see a hinged board lifted up to make a flat area where chicken might go to rest; Don't let the hinged area down! If you can remember that one thing you will save yourself much grief.

P.S. I am hoping future generations might read this little story in a Literature Class and have discussions about "What did he really mean?" Some will contend the meaning is that people should stick to doing what they know something about. Others might interpret the eggs to represent ideas and ambition and show how they are wonderful when acted on immediately but left a awhile they smell bad. I hope someone will raise his or her hand and say, "I thought it was a little story about a kid who did something really stupid and paid the price." That's the way I'd interpret it.