The elusive winter egg

We all know that it has been a very long time since you've heard anything from GroveAtopia.  But as you know, that does not mean we have not been here.  We didn't disappear or cease to exist, we just stopped writing about it for what turned out to be quite a while.

I'm going to spare you the promises, vows and commitments you are expecting to hear.  You know the ones where I talk about how I will post more regularly and not let so much time lapse between postings.

But let's be honest.  Let's not set ourselves up for disappointment, self criticism or guilt.  Let's just enjoy what we have right now - another post from our favorite place - GroveAtopia.   Whether we post regularly or not, GroveAtopia can take it.  So let's just jump right in, shall we?

It's winter in GroveAtopia and as if rain, occasional snow, and the particularly menacing sounding freezing fog we experience during this dark season were not enough, we must also endure an egg shortage.

I know, it doesn't sound right, does it?  Why not just go to the store and get a dozen?  The stores have plenty.

But here in GroveAtopia, we do it differently.  We only go to the store to buy eggs as a last resort.  We'd rather get our eggs from our neighbor because in the GroveAtopian countryside chances are our neighbor has chickens and those chickens are not shy about producing plenty of eggs.  In spring, summer and fall that is.  Not in winter.

Before I came to GroveAtopia I didn't know this, and maybe you don't either, but it turns out chickens need a certain amount of light to lay eggs.  So right around about Halloween, the chickens start laying fewer and fewer eggs until by Christmas, finding a farm egg in GroveAtopia can be nearly impossible.

For awhile I could get them at the Old Mill Feed Store.  Then their source stopped laying.  Then I could get them at Scott's farm stand.  Then those chickens succumbed to winter.  Then there were the terrible few weeks where I had to buy them at the store.  Let's not dwell on that difficult time.

Lately I've been able to get them at Farmhand Feed.  You are limited to one dozen per week - but last week I got lucky and got a dozen and a half.   Jackpot!  I'm so happy to find a reliable source of winter eggs I'm not even going to ask Mary, who runs Farmhand Feed, where she gets them.

It may not be convenient, but when you think about it, maybe that's how it should be.  When you eat an egg, you should think about the chicken, or if you don't know the chicken well enough to think about it, at least think about the fact that a chicken was involved.  Your GroveAtopian farm egg may not come from a chicken you know personally, but someone you know probably does.

So when I have my dozen winter eggs in my refrigerator, I feel happy.  And if I have enough to hard-boil, well that's just a bonus.

What a contrast to the summer months, when there is plenty of light and there are plenty of eggs.  So many in fact that I had dozens stacked in the refrigerator.  But until those days return, I'll cherish my elusive winter eggs.