Egg-citing Ending

Much like people in all societies, the villagers in Burkina Faso liked to express their appreciation for a kindness. As I traveled from village to village on my motorcycle, often a villager would give me gift. These gifts ranged from a chicken or guinea to an egg depending on the prosperity of the subsistent farmer. Many times when I received a gift I would regift it to another villager.

Frequently I received either chicken or guinea eggs, and it was extremely difficult to transport eggs on a dirt bike. When we think of transporting eggs here in the USA we think of egg cartons—but there were no egg cartons in the villages of eastern Burkina Faso. I carried these eggs either in my cap or inside my shirt along my waistline. Did they ever break? Yes, and it was a mess! However, I don’t recall ever breaking a guinea egg as they have extremely hard shells.

When I arrived home with eggs, I laid them on the kitchen countertop so Cheryl could give them the “float” test. She would put them in a bowl of water and if the egg did not float, then she would keep it. If the egg floated, then it was certainly a bad egg. If the egg stood on one end but remained at the bottom of the bowl, then the egg was not fresh, but it was still edible.

This particular day I came home and laid the eggs on the counter, but Cheryl did not immediately give them the float test. Soon afterward we heard a baby chicken chirping. That was not an unusual sound for us around our home, but this sound was not coming from outside the house. It was coming from the kitchen. To our surprise, a chicken egg had hatched on our kitchen countertop!

I enjoy caring for all kinds of fowl. I love throwing cracked corn on the ground for my ducks and guineas. Every time they hear me driving down to the barn on the Kubota RTV they come flying in from all directions.

My preferred meat is chicken, and I like it cooked in every kind of way. I also prefer chicken sandwiches over hamburgers, deli sandwiches or barbeque sandwiches.

Have you ever thought about how much we talk about chickens in our everyday conversations? Here are some samples of everyday sayings about chickens: Mad as a wet hen. Flew the coop. Nest egg. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Hen pecked. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Ruffle your feathers. No spring chicken. Egg on your face. Rule the roost. Chicken feed. Scarce as hen’s teeth. And on and on.

The age-old question about chickens is this: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It doesn’t matter to me—I enjoy eating both!

I bet you thought I was going to ask this age-old question: Why did the chicken cross the road?!

I do have the answer to that one: To show the possum how to cross the road without getting run over!