Saturday encore ~ The day that Peach auditioned for the remake of "The Wizard of Oz"

It was Thursday afternoon around 3:15. I was on a relatively important conference call. The wind was blowing so hard I was having trouble hearing the voices on the other end of the line. To make matters worse, Smooch started barking like a maniac and running from room to room. She usually barks at stuff that's out of place, so I assumed a pail or jolly ball had blown by outside and upset her.

Anyway, the call finally ended and I went outside to check on things. I found Eugenia, Minnie, and Clara huddled against the barn, out of the wind. I assumed Peach was busy laying an egg inside the coop. I herded the hens into their stall and checked the laying boxes for eggs. Whoo-hoo! Another four-egg day. But where was Peach?

I looked under the coop, around the coop, on top of the coop. No Peach. I searched the front yard. I searched the back yard. I searched the side yard. No Peach. I had so much sand in my eyes by this time that I figured I had overlooked her, so I went back to the coop and searched again. Still no Peach.

Now I was getting frantic. Sure, it's dry in New Mexico, but chickens don't just evaporate. I looked at the direction the wind was blowing and tried to imagine where Peach might have ended up if a gust had swept her off her feet.

Let's see...if strong southerly winds are sustained at 45 to 55 mph with gusts as high as 75 mph, and I get an email advisory from the county that says "these winds have the potential to create damage to roofs, power lines, carports, and other light weight objects, (emphasis added)" why, that must mean Peach is somewhere over yonder! Don't you just love word problems?

Sure enough, I made my way to the other side of the five-foot fence that surrounds the house, and there was poor, pitiful Peach, scared to death but unharmed. I scooped her up in my arms and took her back to the coop. Whew.

Meanwhile, back in the yard, all 165 pounds of Wynonna were not in danger of blowing away and she was more worried about missing her dinner than getting a little sand in her eyes.