2025 – A Phenomenal Year

When I was a kid, if someone asked me what I want to be when I grow up, I may have said things like a veterinarian, a pilot, or a singer. I don’t think I would have ever thought of an engineer, which is what I ended up studying, nor a writer, which is what I forayed into last year.

The signs were there. I remember the essay writing in school which I loved. But the writing left my life along with school. Other things took precedence. Life happened, adulthood happened.

And then the blogging started. I documented our kids as they grew, still barely paying attention to what I wrote. Then around 2022, the germ of the idea of writing slowly drifted into my conscience, until it grew, fueled by close friends and family. Finally, last year was the year. I ended up publishing three books on Amazon, with many books in the pipeline.

The fact that I write children’s books is even funnier. If you had told me in my teen years that I would write children’s books in my 40s, I would have laughed you out of the room. I barely noticed children at all. When I did, it was with annoyance and impatience.

I stumbled through motherhood making endless mistakes, and getting endlessly frustrated. But in the midst of all this, somewhere I developed an understanding for them. I’m still learning.

2025 started badly for us. Johan was injured, and had to undergo shoulder surgery. We limped through the first couple of months.

Then in April my parents came over to the USA for a five month visit. Then began my most productive and lucky phase, since in the five months that they were here, I published three books, The Flying Boy, Spring Fever, and The Great Summer Escape. It was quite a monumental undertaking, and I have learnt so much from these projects.

The Flying Boy was illustrated by a professional illustrator, while Spring Fever, as well as The Great Summer Escape were illustrated by Tanya. She had a year of self discovery and personal growth as well.

Johan recovered, and we all had a nice time with my parents in town. My dad has many fond memories of hanging out at Panera with Johan and Kylo Ren, our dog.

Tanya started college last year, and Leena is in her last year of middle school.

Once my parents left, it has been more writing and trying to keep up with our regular work. End of the year saw the girls and me in Washington DC, as I mentioned in my last post.

I am excited to see what this year brings. With two middle grade novels and two picture books in the works for the year, it should be an interesting time.

Happy New Year.

End of Year Trip to Washington DC

Christmas is one of our favorite times of the year. Unlike most people around us, we find it a quiet time when life slows down to a snail pace. We give each other silly presents and cook a feast.

But Christmas of 2025 was different. Our feast was smaller and the day was far from quiet. This is because we had an exciting end-of-the-year plan up our sleeves. The very next morning, Tanya, Leena, and I set off for a six day trip to Washington DC.

Dec 26, 2025

Johan and Kylo Ren, the dog, dropped us off at the Amtrak station in Harrisburg. Our plan was to take a train from Harrisburg to DC with a short layover in Philadelphia, leaving at 8 a.m. and arriving at DC at noon. Leaving Johan to enjoy a few days of me time, and giving Kylo an extra cuddle, we were off.

The train ride was straightforward. I like the unhurried train experience more than the security checks and mad rush of airports. We were on time, boarded, and watched the cloudy day scenery go by. I tried to imagine that I was travelling a hundred years ago. This was hard to do because of all the trash laying around. But it was a nice mental exercise.

Upon arrival in DC, we took a subway from Union Station to the center of DC. Our hotel, The Mint House, was very close to The White House. It was drizzling when we walked over to the hotel. Check in was smooth.

Our first impression of the room was mixed. We didn’t love it. It had a kitchenette and a couch along with a queen bed. It didn’t match our mental picture of what a hotel room should look like.

Not delving too much, we left quickly, stopping at a falafel and kabob place for a most delicious and satisfying lunch. After that, we walked over to a museum named Planet Word.

Planet Word was a beautiful museum about language, word, rhymes, and all related topics. Planet word is a must visit in DC. I would strongly recommend it. My favorite exhibit was a karaoke room where a voice dissected the rhyme forms of a few popular songs.

We left the museum around 5 p.m., walking over to a neighborhood grocery store. Here we bought breakfast supplies, fruits etc. It was dark, and we were tired. Calling it a day, we went back to the hotel.

The room slowly started revealing its hidden miracles. The couch was a pull out and had its own TV, usually meant for a child. The queen bed had a TV as well, for a couple. I opted for the pull out bed and the kids took the queen. This meant we had our own little pods even in this tight space. The kitchenette turned out exceptionally well equipped with plates, bowls, etc, knives, forks, cooking pans etc, toaster, microwave, oven, and even a dishwasher and a clothes washer! Making ourselves comfortable, we relaxed in our pods, and watched TV and snacked, and planned our day. By the end of our visit, we loved our little home away from home which provided us a lot of comfort on these cold days.

Dec 27, 2025

Smithsonian day! We knew what we wanted to see. The kids love to see anything related to natural history. After eating a breakfast that I made in our kitchen, we took a subway to the museums.

Having visited these museums before, I knew that this would be a tiring day, and I was right! The museum was very crowded, which was disorienting in the beginning. But we soon found our mojo and started having fun. The dinosaur fossils are absolutely astonishing, and never get old. It was easily our favorite room. We ran about, checking all of them out.

After a quick stop in the cafe for drinks, and at the museum store where the girls bought necklaces, we checked out the NASA room, mummies, and live insect rooms. It was almost 4 p.m. when we got out. We had one hour left before Smithsonian closed, so we took a quick trip to the museum of art. Considering how much we are in art, I figured it would be motivating for us. Well, I figured wrong!

All the initial exhibits were of old style paintings. They don’t inspire us at all. Everyone was immediately tired. Leena sulked, while Tanya bravely tried to show interest. We asked for the contemporary art section, and went over. But we were once again disappointed when we came across a room with large canvasses painted white (?!). One room even had a trash bag as an exhibit.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I respect the ideas. If it inspires you, that’s great. But it didn’t inspire us. There was a room with mobiles, which was the only room that the girls looked alive in. By 5 p.m. we were done with Smithsonian and it was done with us!

Our next plan was better. We saw a different kind of art, which would motivate anyone. The art of Ethiopian food. We went to a lovely little restaurant and enjoyed an exquisite, yummy dinner. Walking back to the hotel, we dived into the grocery store once again to pick a few things up. Once in room, we were back to chilling, TV watching, and having plenty of tea.

Dec 28, 2025

This was an “Elf” day. Elf days are when we decide to go off the beaten path to explore lesser known things. Taking a subway we went to Dupont Circle. And there it was. There was a farmer’s market right under our noses, as we stepped off the subway. We all immediately felt at home. We walked through the market, buying little things; apples, cucumbers, cider, raw honey, macaroons, mango juice. Luckily we carried a big backpack wherever we went and were able to throw everything inside.

From there we went to the museum on O street. The museum on O street is basically an antique store with a history. Its a fancy house with many hidden doors that you can try finding. The idea of exploring secret doors attracted us. We didn’t love it, but it was fun. Considering that it was a glorified antique store, the kinds that we find everywhere in central Pennsylvania, we found its ticket costs too steep. Anyway, we did have fun trying to find secret doors and visiting a Halloween room. So altogether it wasn’t too bad.

As we walked back to Dupont circle, we came across a used book store and went inside to explore it a bit. It was nice and quaint, reminding us a bit of Webster’s in our town, although Webster’s is next level in terms of vibes and fun. Our next stop was Dupont Underground, which is an underground art place in DC. It was previously an old train line, that was later converted into an art hub.

Unfortunately we were disappointed. Dupont Underground was closed. We went to a Starbucks nearby and were told that Dupont Underground only opened for events. The next event was in January.

Giving up, we decided to check out the shopping scene.

We first went to the Eastern markes, which is a good and craft market. It was interesting and we hung there for a bit.

We then looked for a mall near our hotel and found City Center DC. We walked over, but were in for more disappointment. City Center DC was not a regular mall. It was a bunch of overly upscale stores that were of no interest to us. We left quickly. Looking around, our GPS showed that there was a Macy’s nearby. So, Macy’s it was!

We spent the rest of the day browsing the store. It was fun, because we don’t usually do such things. Tanya and I are allergic to shopping!

When we finally came out, it was dark. We walked back to our hotel room, settling in with delicious leftovers as we tried to get the chill out of our bones.

Dec 29, 2025

This was a big walking day. The weather was in mid 50s, so we had decided to explore the DC zoo. We each had an animal that we wanted to see. I was there to see the pandas, Leena wanted to see the wolves, and Tanya wanted to see the snow leopards. We didn’t see snow leopards, but we got an eyeful of pandas, and we did try our howl on the wolves!

We visited every exhibit in the zoo, walking for hours. The greatest reward was catching a panda at its feeding time. The cutie gave us quite a show. The audience gasped and wowed as he moved about with a smile and bearing of a celebrity, but with none of the diva behavior, performing all kinds of antics, from eating, to rolling about in a tub of pine shavings!

The other notables at the zoo were fast swimming sea lions, elephants, snakes (one of which tried to bite Leena), noisy flamingoes, apes, tigers and lions. By the time we were done, the weather took a turn for the worse. Strong wind gusts started blowing, telling us that it was time to be done. We rewarded ourselves by going to a South Indian restaurant and enjoying dosas. Happy with a well spent day, we went back to our hotel.

Dec 30, 2025

Weather turned bad, and we turned toward Smithsonian. We went to the Air and Space museum. Once again, the crowd started overwhelming us. But we were on it. Figuring out the exact exhibits that we wanted to see, we went to the future of space section, planets, and early flight sections. I found the space junk information the most interesting, as usual. One always gravitates toward topics that interest them.

We then went to see a planetarium show. The previous day’s tiredness was getting us, and we found it hard to concentrate. We decided to go for a meal. The Smithsonian museum of Native American history has a cafe called Mitsitam. We decided to try some Native American food here. We ate a fry bread topped with veggies. It was delicious.

We didn’t explore the native American museum, because on our trips out west we have seen many native American museums, with more authenticity and balanced viewpoint than what Smithsonian may offer.

We felt more energetic after our meal and decided to visit the bonsai garden in DC. Unfortunately the bonsai garden is totally out of the way. We took a cab there to escape the cold. Navigating the buses in the cold weather seemed beyond our tolerance limits.

The bonsai museum was in the middle of nowhere, with no people at the information desk and barely any patrons. We were slightly intimidated and unsure at what to expect. However, the bonsai display turned out to be spectacular. It was a little beautiful surprise. The most interesting display was a four hundred year old Yamaki Pine bonsai that had been gifted to the US by Japan in the seventies.

We had to grapple with the cold and the location once we left the museum. Unsure of how to make it back to the hotel, we walked along the road, with the hope of either catching a bus or hailing a cab. After a bit of a walk we did hail a cab and went back to our hotel room.

Dec 31, 2025

White house and Renwick Gallery day! It was our last day at DC. We were tired and done. Tanya felt sick. Leena trudged along. We checked out of our hotel at 11:30. We had to leave to catch our train around 2 p.m.

With a couple of hours to go, we first visited the White House to get our customary picture taken. After grabbing coffee, we walked over to the Renwick Gallery. Renwick Gallery is also an art museum. The difference is that it is contemporary, almost folk style, American art. I really loved this small museum. I could connect with the art easily. There were many beautiful exhibits.

Once we were done, we walked back to the hotel, collected our bags, took the subway to Union Station, and then Amtrak back to Harrisburg. We had a happy reunion with our boys here, and came home to enjoy the last couple of hours of 2025. What an interesting end of the year!

I have come to realize that if you can find two or three things that motivate or arouse your interest in a trip, then that is a successful trip. With that in mind, this trip can be considered a super success. The bonsai, the Renwick Gallery displays, a display of perpetual motion at the museum on O street, as well as the mummies section at Smithsonian have given me enough ideas to keep moving through 2026. I anticipate 2026 as a spectacular year personally, but more on that in my next blog. For now, we are happy to be home.

Kylo Ren, the dog: Now, hold on, Mom. You weren’t planning to end the blog without input from me, were you? Let me tell you, 2025 end was a disaster for me. First of all, the humans have been coning me. My skin got itchy, and I wasn’t allowed to scratch it. And when I did manage to scratch it despite the cone, I ended up making a large hole in my skin, after which my humans put a shirt on me. Hmph. I peed on my first shirt, but that didn’t solve my problem. They put on a new shirt and would take it off when I went out. My humans are exasperating.

I got really dull and grumpy. Christmas was a good day, since I got many presents. The presents all smelt the same; maybe they came from the same bag of treats, but I’m not complaining. I got the most gifts of all.

Just when I thought life was getting good, bam! The girls were gone. Now, I am all up for guy time, but Papa wouldn’t let me out for walks. He said that it was too slippery. My reply would be that that’s what makes it fun. But no one listens to me around here. I got grumpy and mopey until finally Papa took me to camp and I had a good run. That was better. Luckily Papa forgot my leash at camp so we went back the next day. Papa made a fire and heated my food can on the stove. My eyes popped out. I didn’t know Papa could cook, but he was pretty good. Yum!

Then, just like that, the ladies were back. I showed them some attitude by trying to ignore it, but today Mom put coconut oil all over my body and gave me a firm brush, after which I died and went to heaven. But don’t you worry, I didn’t actually die. Life is good again.

Paisley, the chicken: Just when I get comfortable with my world, it changes. By now I can tolerate Leena, or, dare I say, love her. But she left me and was gone. Boo hoo. The big man came from the human house and gave us food and hot water. I ran helter skelter when I saw the big man, but maybe that brought his attention on me, the one outcome I didn’t desire. Luckily he didn’t stick around for long.

I did miss the hot water bottles that Leena leaves in the coop at night. Luckily, she came back yesterday and put a hot bottle in our coop. Yay. I love Leena!

The Chicken Coop Winter Party

The bells jingle, winter lights gleam
The cold sets in, hot chocolates steam
We chickens love this time of year
Of fun, joy, happiness and cheer.

We peek in the yard, happy children run
Christmas tree arrives, how very fun
“It’s all nice and dandy.” Oreo says
“But how do we celebrate these festive days?”

Oreo’s words make Paisley mope
Christmas fun seems beyond our scope
“Fear not!” Lazy Laurie cries
A wild look crosses her keen eyes.

“We’ll have a party!” Lazy declares
“With lights and feast, peels and pears.
Invite the human girls!” she states
“We’ll decorate and use our very best plates!”

Crazy Cookie sighs, Paisley shivers
Such bold plans stress out our livers
But Oreo thinks this is a grand plan
She gets out a pen from her personal can.

Finding a paper, Lazy Laurie writes
“You are invited after two nights
Come, dear girls, to celebrate
Christmas with us, behind the crate.”

“We appreciate all you do for us
You take care of us without a fuss
We would now like to return the favor.
Together we party, yummy food we savor.”

The next morning Leena gets a surprise
What’s this note? She can’t believe her eyes
“Tanya!” she yells, running to the house
Her wild cries stun the birds and the mouse.

“What’s going on?” asks Tanya, very confused
“Can you stop yelling? My ears feel bruised.”
Wordlessly Leena hands her the note
As Tanya reads, she drops her tote.

“We knew they could talk. But this is nuts
These crazy chickens have a lot of guts!”
Nods Leena, “I guess it’s time to party”
Let’s hope they serve a meal that’s hearty!”

The party is today, the chickens work hard
They decorate their coop with stuff from the yard
Berries and pine needles, yummy delights
Lazy Laurie even pulls out a stash of lights.

Evening comes near, Paisley lays the plates
With peels and cheese and bits of dates
The coop looks festive as the girls arrive
They look surprised! The chickens high-five.

The girls sit on the rocks, while the chickens serve
Their beautiful plates with enthusiasm and verve
The girls look worried, as they politely eat
A piece of bread, topped with a peel of beet.

Leena has a plan. From her pocket she sneaks
A cookie. Taking a bite she fills her cheeks
The move does not escape the chicken eye
Lazy Laurie squawks, making Oreo fly.

A peck on her knee catches Leena unawares
She yells, drops the cookie, now its theirs
Before Leena can move, Oreo responds
Picking up the cookie, she rapidly absconds.

Next thing, we chickens fall in a pile
Lazy Laurie lands a kick, Kungfu style
Taking charge, she then bellows
To drive some sense in her chicken fellows.

Moving the chickens, the cookie she picks
Carefully she breaks it into equal parts of six.
As the girls gawk, she carefully picks each part
And serves it to everyone. Now isn’t she smart?

For winter is a time for love and sharing
“Time for us to show we can be caring!”
Her sisters nod. The human girls smile
They dig in their pockets in great style.

Out comes a bag of treats galore.
Fruits and pies, melons and more
We chickens stare, together we thank
Our lovely girls whom we must never prank.

And thus we eat, drink and share
We cuddle the girls to show we care
The night descends, the dog arrives
The party ends, it was a time of our lives.

The girls say good night, we give a hug
Paisley gives Tanya’s sleeve a tug
As she gives them a present, our favorite rock
With many thanks, our coop they lock.

Well, my sisters, have a very good night
Sleep well. Together we cuddle tight
As we watch the happy girls go home
“That’s the spirit!” shouts the garden gnome.

Paisley’s Fall Adventure

The leaves turn golden, the evenings grey
Summer is gone, fall is here to stay
We chickens feel droopy, sleepy, and all
As we slowly get used to the early nightfall.

Lazy Laurie is beginning to molt
Her plucked look gives quite a jolt
While Crazy Cookie covers the cracks with hay
“Gotta stop the draft,” she tells the blue jay.

Oreo, the biggest amongst us girls
Cleans her feathers, the ends she curls
While Paisley is worried, scared of the dark
Any noise makes her jump, even the dog’s bark.

“Now, dear Paisley, there’s nothing to fear
There are no ghosts, it’s wind you hear.”
Oreo tries her best to cheer Paisley up
As she stirs up the ice and water in her cup.

Try as she might, Paisley is not appeased
Lazy Laurie the leader looks none too pleased
Crazy Cookie laughs, her wings she beats
Says, “Wait until the night of trick and treats!”

“For you will see witches, ghouls and ghosts
Frankenstein and lions, in every corner and outposts.”
Paisley stares. Her feathers stand on ends
She marvels at the fearlessness of her friends.

“Quiet, Crazy!” Lazy Laurie frowns and scolds
As a shivering Paisley she cuddles and holds
“Halloween is a time of frolic and fun
And dress up and treats for everyone!”

“Wouldn’t it be fun if we all dressed up?
Went out trick or treating? I would dress as a pup!”
Says Oreo, as she stares at Paisley in delight
“You could be a raven! You are dark as the night!”

Paisley stares at the sky, thinking hard
“I would love to be a raven and fly about the yard.”
Laughs Crazy Cookie, “Well, what do you know?
Find a wolf partner, and trick or treating you go!”

“For wolves and ravens make the best of friends
They play, they share food, and other odds and ends.”
We chickens laugh and jest as the evening light streams
As the night falls slowly. Paisley sleeps and dreams.

The day of trick or treating is finally here
The kids dress up in their Halloween gear
We chickens feel the excitement in the air
We peek out of the coop. Did we just see a bear?!

A movement at the door catches Paisley’s eye
She stares and then she lets out a cry
For she has just spotted a wolf at the door
“My best friend!” she yells, shaken to the core.

Right before our eyes Paisley runs to the fence
She pushes at a rock! Has she lost all her sense?
Before we know it, she has moved the rock aside
To reveal an escape hole that is not too wide.

Little Paisley squeezes out and is gone in a flash
We rush behind her, into the hole we smash 
Alas! We are too big to squeeze through
We wring our wings. There’s not much we can do.

The night falls! We hope Paisley returns
Oreo is sad, for her friend she yearns
Just as we are about to give up hope
Paisley is here. No longer we mope.

Lazy Laurie scolds, Crazy Cookie shrugs
As Paisley looks guilty, Oreo hugs
“Sorry sisters. I know I was wrong. 
But it was time to explore and come back strong!”

“I followed the wolf. We went for a hunt
Door to door. Back to front
The wolf and I made a perfect team
And that’s not all!” Paisley’s eyes gleam.

She raises her wing. A bag drops
Looking inside Oreo’s eye pops
For treats await, sweet and sour
Paisley is the chicken of the hour.

We laugh, we squeal, we grab bites
Of Paisley’s stash of yummy delights
As Paisley recounts her Halloween walk
We listen, munching, our eyes agog.

At last, it is time for bed
Our happy bellies feel well fed
“Good night ladies. Paisley, great job!
You are now the chicken coop heartthrob.”

Drawings by: Leena Zwart aged 13

Paisley’s predator attack

Crazy Cookie the chicken: I haven’t forgotten. Paisley spent two weeks in the human house in the spring, while we, the top chickens, stayed in the coop. How dare she?! After all that effort that I put in to make sure that she stayed at the bottom of the pecking order! I even pushed her out of the chicken coop one night making her she sleep in the run. Come to think of it, that was the beginning of all the problems. Around 5 a.m., we chickens were awakened by blood curdling screams emanating from Paisley. Oreo was concerned and actually went to check. I didn’t! I simply stretched on big Oreo’s section of the roost and slept sound (now don’t you dare judge me, you luxury loving humans. You don’t know how life is in the wild).

Sadly, her screams brought the human man out. Paisley had disappeared. I felt a pang of guilt but the rules of the pecking order are absolute and I couldn’t beat myself over my compulsion to climb to the top. Wait, hey! What’s this….

Lazy Laurie the chicken (snatching the keyboard from Crazy Cookie the chicken): Off you go, Crazy Cookie! For the record, Crazy Cookie is not at the top of the pecking order. It is I, Lazy Laurie, the Orange Chicken Supreme (gotta use the word “supreme” since Kylo Ren the dog uses it when he describes himself as the supreme leader!).

Yes, Crazy Cookie has been acting a bit desperate to climb the social ladder in these parts. I, on the other hand, am kind to Paisley. We go pecking around in the vegetable patch together. I rarely chase her off the food scraps that the humans give us. Crazy Cookie, on the other hand, chases Paisley hard!

Despite all her efforts, I am still the top chicken at the ripe old age of 9. I established this fact recently when my human dad was eating his lunch in the yard. Without hesitation I jumped on his lap to try to get to one of his croissants. He pushed me down, but mom told him off for disrespecting the senior chicken (ahem). After that, I had a field day sitting on his lap and getting crumbs from him.

There’s another thing special about me. I am the only chicken left from the original four. I was brought here nine years ago. Mom’s parents were visiting from India. After 9 years they are visiting again, so we had a reunion!

One bad thing about being senior is that I sleep a lot, and totally missed Paisley’s early morning attack. I have no clues to share about who, what or how Paisley almost died in Spring. I’ll let Oreo try to piece that story together while I take a nap.

Oreo the chicken: I know it. It was Kylo Ren, the dog. He was the one who ripped on my dear sister Paisley. How do I know this, you may ask. I know this because I found Paisley’s feather stuck on Kylo Ren’s snout. Now if that is not a dead giveaway, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, I love Paisley. I am one chicken who has never bullied her. We joined the elfland together, and we go back a long way, from the time the rough roosters at the previous owners used to peck on us. I was truly sad the day she was attacked and disappeared. I thought she must have died. But lo and behold, she reappeared after a few days, new skin and all, looking hale and hearty. I guess she was fed well in the big human house. I welcomed her back with open wings! Glad to have my buddy back with me.

Paisley the chicken: There seems to be a lot of misinformation around here regarding my predator attack. Let me tell you what happened.

One night, after my sisters bullied me out of the coop, I was sleeping on the rocks in the run when suddenly a black shadow appeared. Before I could react, it grabbed my belly and tried to pull me. I was certain this was my last day. But the predator didn’t know that this was me, Paisley, the mistress of screams. I screamed hard, like a human baby. The predator was shaken and loosened its grip. I ran. Ouch. A piece of my skin disappeared, but I wasn’t about to stop to claim it.

Apart from my scream, my second big talent is my smallness. I can get through really tiny spaces. So I wriggled out of the run and ran at top speed. I hid in bushes. Here’s where my third talent tilted the odds in my favor. You see, I am as dark as the night. So when I hide, I become a part of the night itself. The predator looked around, but was no match for my stealth. It dropped my piece of skin and disappeared. In the meantime my human dad had woken up, hearing my screams. He looked around, but couldn’t find me either.

The next morning, I was found by my owner, Leena. Nothing escapes her eyes! She got me in. I proceeded to scream a few more times, scaring the living daylights out of my humans and Kylo Ren. They managed to capture me and pop me in a crate. Before that they examined me to find a gaping hole in my belly. They were appropriately worried. The last chicken that they had found with a hole died within 24 hours.

My humans sprang into action. My dear little Leena actually skipped school that day for me. They bought an antiseptic cream and spray and cleaned my wound. This was not easy because I freak out so fast. To stop me from freaking out, they covered my face with a washcloth so that I could not see what they were doing.

After an initial couple of days of freaking out, however, I started loving my new life. I used to get yogurt and other yummies each morning and evening. My beak stayed white from a coating of yogurt! They also pampered me and chit chatted with me. Even Kylo Ren the dog came by every now and then to say Hi! They diligently worked on my wound for a couple of weeks, and then, miraculously, new skin appeared! I showed off my new skin to my humans. They responded by putting me in the chicken tractor separated from the other chickens during the day. This was a welcome change. I would scream out to my sisters. Oreo would give a friendly yell, while Crazy Cookie would scream menacingly. My cozy world looked within my reach. Finally, after days of separation, I was finally allowed to join my sisters. Leena watched carefully to make sure that my sisters wouldn’t try to pull my skin back off me, but they didn’t and that was the end of yogurt days and back to being bullied!

As to who my predator was, it was definitely not Kylo Ren. He sleeps on the third floor of the human house, and no way could he have escaped and then tried to eat me. I think it was either an owl or a raccoon. Anyway, they didn’t succeed, and I live on to tell my story.

Kylo Ren, the supreme leader, awakens

Kylo Ren the dog: Woof! Howdy? My mom has been keeping the computer away from me. I haven’t been able to blog at all. Hmph. So, this afternoon, I lay on my back with my paws hanging mid air, playing dead, or at least, fast asleep. My people thought I was oh, so cute. They got groggy looking at me, lying there. Soon, mom passed out on the couch, as I watched from the corner of my half closed eye.

The snore was my cue. I was up in a thrice, sneaking over to the computer. Mom stirred a bit, so I pulled the blanket over her and gave her a fuzzy nuzzle. There, there. I even tucked a little stuffie in the blanket. Satisfied, mom resumed snoring while I crept over to the computer.

My last post was back in November about kickboxing. I am getting some serious FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). So, here I am, writing about my life story since the past few months.

The winter was largely dull, other than some brief excitement in December when I couldn’t stop pooping and ended up in the hospital. My dad wanted to come in the examination room, but the hospital staff insisted on taking me without my humans. So I got some fun out of that, terrorizing the poor staff members. My fun was finally over when they put me under to do tests on me. I was sleepy for two days after that. Tanya told me later that all they did at the hospital was to put water in my body using a needle. Wow! $1000 for that?! I could have drunk that much water instead and bought treats with the $1000. My humans are sweet, but easily duped.

Christmas came around. I ate as much as I could beg my masters out of. Gingerbread houses, cookies, treats wrapped in wrapping paper, the wrapping paper itself, you name it!

Unfortunately our year ended badly with dad falling off a ladder and ripping his shoulder. He had to go to the hospital after that, and unlike in the dog world, in the human world, it is the doctor who terrorizes the patient. Dad should have taken me along, like I begged him to, but no one listens to me around here. Hmph.

Winter was very cold. The chickens were freezing their butts outside. Leena took to leaving boiling hot water in their coops. If it was up to me, I would have boiled the chicken in the water and had a nice warm soup, but no one listens to me around here (did I mention that before?)

Just when I thought I would die from boredom, Paisley, the screamy chicken, added some excitement by almost getting eaten by a predator. I will let her tell her story, but she spent about ten days in the house, giving me something to sniff and poke at, while I tried to pass the time.

And then, just like that, my luck changed. Suddenly two new people appeared in the house who I could terrorize! Woah! I couldn’t believe my luck. These people smelt and looked a bit strange, so I wasn’t sure about my attack tactic. I heard that they were from a far off place called India. What’s more, they were mom’s parents. Ok, interesting. I tried to get up close and personal, but my family played spoilsport as usual and kept me away.

When the new people did not leave after seeing me, my attitude slowly shifted from seeing them as a threat, to a potential expansion of the pack. The urge to include them in the pack became greater when I noticed some very positive traits of the new arrivals. They tended to give me a last bite of whatever meal they were having. Wow! My beggar instinct came fully alive as I started following the new people. Tanya and Leena called them Nana and Nani. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me. So, Nana and Nani they are.

I love Nani. Absolutely. I like Nana too, but Nani cooks. She makes these flat breads called roti, and guess what?! She always makes one for me. When I get this butter covered delight I am in seventh heaven.

Now, being a supreme leader, my natural instinct is to ignore people when they call me. But I never ignore Nana and Nani if they call me. Because I know, treats await. I go, I sit, I drool, I beg, and I chomp. Can’t complain. Life’s good.

Funny old cars

While the world chases the next new and big car, they have lost something in this rat race. The charm and fun memories that an old car provides. Thanks to my husband and his passion for old cars, I have a treasure trove of car memories. Here are a few!

Story 1: Loony toons

We drove our diesel cars on waste vegetable oil for many years. This required collecting used vegetable oil from restaurants. We had a deal with the local fried chicken restaurant that we would collect their oil for free every week. This worked well for them since they would otherwise have to pay to get their oil hauled away.

Every week, Johan or I would go to pump out the waste vegetable oil from their oil tubs. It was dirty work, but ok, that’s what we did back then.

One fine evening Johan’s employee, a guy who found everything funny, and I went to collect the oil. I was driving and he was in the passenger seat. On our way home after collecting the waste oil, I was driving the main road back home. Just when I was about to make my right turn to the house, the power steering of the old Mercedes that we were driving failed! So, of course, I couldn’t make the turn. Startled, I yelled at the guy that I couldn’t turn. He went into peels of laughter saying that the power steering had died.

Giving him an incredulous look, I shouted, “stop laughing and pull!” We both pulled on the steering wheel together to make the next right turn, in a move that would remind one of an old fashioned cartoon show where the characters pull on the steering wheel together while their faces are clouded with terror at the impending disaster. Only, in this case, my car mate’s face was alight with amusement.

Anyway, the car did grunt and respond to our endeavors and turned at the next right turn. With a few more similar turns around the block, we made it home, with aching arms and a story to remember!

Story 2: Rattling through the West Coast

This happened when Johan and I were dating (point to note, I still married him. Get ready to applaud!). We took a trip through the West Coast in a ford E350. It was oh, so romantic. We were shaken, literally. That’s less because of the romance, and more because the front axle of our car rattled wildly when we drove at certain speeds. I think a bearing was worn out. Johan did try to fix it many times, but she still rattled. When the rattling would start, we would try to change our speed until the poor car calmed down. This meant often driving at slow speeds.

This rattling car gave us many moments of laughter. For instance, Johan had dropped me off at a copy center to make some photocopies while he went to consult a mechanic in Paige, Arizona. Once I was done, I went and sat by a tree. Soon two native American men (one youngish, and another old) sat on either side of me and were talking to me about marrying into their tribe. Sensing trouble, I nodded and smiled at them until I saw Johan at which I ran saying, “That’s my boyfriend. Bye!” to the annoyed duo.

The most sensational moment came when we had to reach Lake Powell to catch a ferry to get across by Friday at 5 pm. The ferry didn’t run over the weekends. Of course, the car rattled, and we slowed down. Finally we made it just in time to see that the last boat had just left the dock. We stood at the dock, stomping and shaking our heads in dismay, when, lo and behold! The ferry turned around. We couldn’t believe our eyes. As we stared, the ferry came closer and closer until it was back. The kindly captain said that he had noticed us and decided to come back to get us. How amazing.

Story 3: Car lost and found

This was in 2019. We took a family trip through the West Coast and were on our way out from Death Valley. We were traveling in a city bus which had been converted into a camper, and towing an old jeep Cherokee. Dog needed to pee, so we stopped for a brief second. Dog ran around the bus and we followed. Then we stopped dead in our tracks. For, the jeep was gone. The tow rod was dragging on the ground minus the jeep!

After recovering from the minor heart attack following this discovery, we turned around, not sure how long ago we had lost the jeep. Death valley is a treacherous landscape, with valleys everywhere. The car could easily have rolled off one of these cliffs. Hoping for the best, we drove, looking for the car. As always, luck was with us. The jeep was found half a mile off road, miraculously intact, sitting straight, not far away from a cliff. It had hit various boulders and had come to a standstill with not much damage. It looked really funny, its back facing the road, like it was angry at being left behind and sulking!

Johan was able to get it driving, and we drove to the nearest town with him driving the bus and me the lucky jeep. Such a beautiful memory. The section of Death Valley that I drove is my favorite section now. I can still visualize that mindboggling landscape.

To finish this story off, we went to Lone Pine, which is the first town near Death Valley. There, as luck would have it, Johan met a guy at a garage who was an excellent welder. He and Johan made a whole new tow rod gear with double the reinforcements so that the jeep could no longer take off for its personal adventures!

More funny old car stories when inspiration strikes.

Our starling housemates

It’s been almost 20 years since we moved into our 100 year old red brick house. When we first moved in, we found this house to be too big for our little family of 3. Our old house was historically a rooming house with 3 floors and a basement, and 7 bedrooms! With a lot of largely unoccupied space, we figured that we could house some tenants.

We proceeded to convert the third floor to an apartment. However, when the time came to rent the place out, the third floor was deemed to be unrentable unless we put a fire escape. We were unwilling to do this because it would ruin our beautiful house. Instead we decided to rent out the second floor.

Our bedrooms are now on floor 3, and we have a cute living cum kitchen. The kitchen has a smoke vent and a chimney, but we don’t cook there.

Enter the starlings! One pioneer couple discovered the missing brick that was the vent of our unused third floor kitchen. They went inside the hole, and discovered the chimney. They made it their home, and had babies. Since then, generations of starlings have raised their babies in the chimney . This brings up the question, whose house is it anyway? Ours, who are still in the process of raising our one generation of kids, or starlings’, who have likely raised 15 generations since the time that hole in the wall came to existence? I think we know the answer, although we daren’t say it!

As every year, we sit on our deck and enjoy watching the busy starlings buzzing about. During the day we can hear the little baby starlings chirping from inside the chimney.

As long as we live in this house, so will our starling housemates.

Backyard Chicken Summer Escape

The sun shines upon our wings
We chickens roll around in dust
Happiness tugging our heartstrings
As our feathers dance in a gust.

We love that summer is finally here
Feels like we waited far too long
For the hot sun. Best time of the year!
The birds sing a happy summer song.

Lazy Laurie is being lazy
Oreo swings in the hanging chair
The slow days drive Crazy Cookie crazy
While Paisley lays eggs everywhere.

Crazy Cookie retreats in a nook
Taking with her a few sturdy twigs
Unaware that Oreo is stealing a look
As she works hard, draws and digs.

Oreo puzzles as Crazy Cookie works
Her careful drawings make no sense
A projectile? A plank? Her head jerks
Did Crazy Cookie just draw the garden fence?

A loud voice from behind! Oreo jumps
“A plan behind my back?” Lazy Laurie stares
Pointing at Crazy, Oreo backs and slumps
Showing she knows nothing of Crazy’s affairs.

“What’s this, Crazy Cookie?” asks Lazy Laurie
“Why am I not in the loop?”
A guilty faced Crazy Cookie says, “Sorry.
But life is more than the yard and the coop.”

Paisley comes over, curious at all the fuss
Crazy Cookie climbs the garden bench
Pointing her twig at her art to discuss
Her new plan which sounds very French.

“Using this trebuchet, or catapult, if you will
The plan is to fly over the fence and run
We could go for a walk, try the neighbor’s dill
Its high time we had some adventure and fun.”

Paisley stops midway from her egg lay
Lazy Laurie holds her heart and sighs
While Oreo stares in utter dismay
There’s a wild look in Crazy Cookie’s eyes.

“Told you she’s crazy!” whispers Oreo
Paisley nods and shakes her head.
Lazy Laurie evaluates this new scenario
While Crazy Cookie gets supplies from the shed.

A large plank, and a big rock
Makes the perfect chicken see saw
Climbing at one end, she yells a command squawk
Oreo and Paisley obey, full of awe.

Screaming a loud and a strong war cry
Oreo and Paisley jump at the other end
Making Crazy Cookie fly in the sky
And into the neighbor’s yard, they send.

Next up is Lazy Laurie, just as before
Oreo and Paisley know the drill 
Sending her flying is no chore
Easy peasy with their fine jumping skill.

Paisley is light as a feather
Big Oreo makes a huge jump
Sure enough! In the neighbor’s heather
Paisley lands on a soft lump.

Now Oreo is in a bit of a fix
No one left to propel her over
From the neighbors comes a flying brick
Propelling Oreo! She ends up in clover.

The mouse claps, the birds cheer
The bunnies bow with silent respect
The squirrel smiles from ear to ear
As we chickens move about and inspect.

Herbs and berries! Delights await
Our eyes pop, our mouths water
We cheer Crazy Cookie the great
The vegetable patch we slaughter.

A bark ends our summer fun
Flying comes the neighbor’s dog
Quick! Atop the trampoline we run
The fast dog jumps too, mouth agog.

He lands on the trampoline, oh my!
We chickens have nowhere to go
What’s this? His leap makes us fly
Over the fence, away from our foe.

Back in our yard, safe and sound
We cluck as the defeated dog barks
We declare Crazy Cookie crowned
As summer queen of us matriarchs.

You and you

How often do you hear people (or yourself) say such phrases – No one cares about me. No one loves me.

I am here to tell you that this is untrue. There’s always someone who cares about you, even when the whole world seems against you. That person is you. Allow me to elaborate.

Question: What is you?

As it turns out, at any given point of time there are two forms of you. The first form is the sum total of your life experiences, your values, your work and whatever makes you the unique person that you are. This is the steady state you.

The second form of you is the mental state that you are in at this moment. You may be in panic at this moment as you are about to lose your job, or sad because your pet is sick, or thrilled because your favorite soccer team won. While this is also you, it does not represent the actual you. This is a transient you. It is your state of mind only today and now, but does not represent the steady state you.

The steady state you is the actual you. The transient you feels more real, but in a few days, or even as early as tomorrow or later today, it will change to a different state. Even if the transient you takes months to get out of this current issue, it is still transient in the overall timeline of your life.

The mistake we make is that we think that the transient us is the real us. This is not true.

So why is this a useful bit of information?

First: Because understanding that the transient you is not alone and not all powerful will bring you peace. Understand that any momentary feeling that you are experiencing today is a teeny tiny bit of information that has been added to the steady state you. It is likely going to make no change to the overall steady state you.

Second: If you understand this truth, by logic, you have found a friend. The steady state you. Keeping the steady state you in mind makes you realize that the transient you is not alone.

Let me give you a small proof that the steady state you is indeed your friend. When you said “No one cares about me,” you have actually exhibited care for yourself. You cared enough to articulate this idea, right? So, care has already happened. You have nurtured yourself. The only issue is that you failed to recognize this fact. You did not notice that you had already exhibited self care and self love. Recognize this. One way to organize your thought would be to think that the steady state you exhibited care to the current, agitated, transient you.

Recognizing yourself as your friend is an all powerful thought. If you start drawing strength from yourself, you stand tall. You are able to calmly shut down criticism to your self. Allow the steady state you come to the defense of the transient you. Do not allow the transient you to defend yourself. This is because the transient you is agitated and can’t think straight.

When you have practiced the skill of defending yourself through thoughtless criticisms, you will find people getting attracted toward you. Take their new found admiration with a pinch of salt, just as you take their criticism. Do not let it affect you or get complacent. This will disturb the steady state you, and make you less able to take care of the transient you in times of trouble.

One last thing: The way that the transient you deals with life’s challenges will determine how powerful the steady state you will be. A steady state you that has been built out of falsehoods cannot support you adequately. If you want a strong friend in the steady state you, you must work through each challenge that the transient you faces with truth, courage and a fight. If you do this, you will have a powerful ally that will guide you through life.

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