Hello you beautiful blog and you beautiful readers!

#areyourtakingyourmeds

I’m offended by that comment! 🙂 It’s been a day and it’s not even noon yet! However, sometimes, you just get that feeling of bliss and that’s where I am right now. I don’t have a lot of close friends, but I value those I do have (and one of those friends is getting remarried which makes my heart incredibly happy!). I don’t have a lot of material “things” but I have enough. I don’t make a lot of money, but we are able to be comfortable with what we make in our jobs. You stop, reflect on life, and yeah, life is good.

#okwhatdidyoudowiththeguythatusuallywriteshere

Hush. I could write about how awesome Saturday’s Hawkeye win was to see on TV. I’m planning on going to a game in November, but still am iffy on the masks. Yes, it’s 70,000 people, but it’s also an outdoor arena. I’ve got tickets purchased, so we’ll see. I cannot wait, regardless, because Hawkeye tailgating is off the chart incredible! I could write about how good I feel having lost 21 pounds and how both my blood pressure AND blood work have come back into normal ranges again. Heck, I could write about my parents and their “city folks” problems (nothing terrible, just what you’d expect from people who’d lived in the country for 50 years!). 🙂

But as the title implies, I have 5 stitches in my left pointer finger. I’m right handed, so it’s not a huge problem, but doing dishes, washing my hair, TYPING is a a little bit harder. Some students said it was karma, and to some degree I suppose it was. We had too many chickens in our place. Last year’s butch did not happen, so we had 20 hens and one rooster over the winter. He died of old age, so we used some eggs from friends and hatched out two batches of chicks, adding 5 roosters into the flock. That was unsustainable, so Saturday was butcher day.

We do our own butchering, which is gross, but I love knowing where my food comes from. We skin the birds (much to the chagrin of some) because I refuse to deal with plucking feathers! So, the roosters went first (we kept a beautiful one who hatched out in the spring – the barn is much more quiet) then to the older hens, who would be pressure cooked into a chicken gravy. The whole circle of life thing goes on here. My daughters helped catch chickens when they were younger and one of them did a 4-H presentation about chickens used a foot as a prop. Again, gross, but all part of growing up in rural Iowa. There was never any doubt where food came from and how it got there. Too many kids (and adults) think their food comes from the store. Someone needs to grow, take care of, and ultimately kill that animal for it to make it to that store.

Anyway, I’ve done this dozens of times without a slip. So, Saturday, the slip happened. I was cutting on a bone and it broke before I thought I it should. The knife slipped and I had a nice cut into the top of my pointer finger. There were a few curse words uttered and to the house I went where my wife took one look and said, “We need go to the ER!”. I fought her to start with: “I’m fine!” However, as we washed it out and tried to bandage it, it was messy. So we made the trek to the ER. The nurse there said, “Since you are here, we’ll have the doctor take a look.”

#damnit

The worst pain of it all: the stupid lidocaine shots to numb my finger! It is currently in a split because of the location on my knuckle and the likelihood that I’d rip out the stitches flexing it somehow. Otherwise, it will be an expensive reminder to always play it safe and never assume, especially with something sharp in my hand. It’s a pain to deal with, but it could have been so much worse. However, the chicken will be delicious this winter during a cold day in January! 🙂

As for karma, it is something that I believe in, but I can’t believe this is an example. Why? Because these chickens are well fed, well taken care of, and as I butcher, I offer up some thanks for the sacrifice they are about to make. We’ve loved having the birds over the years and will continue having them for many more years to come because they are unique creatures!

We’ll just make sure that I’m more careful with sharp knives! 🙂

#justdontrunwithoneplease