Better Than the Pecking Order?
Did you know that chickens can follow a pecking order 136 chickens long? What that means is, through a series of skirmishes (some more violent than others), chickens establish their own governing body within their clan. The strongest chicken, typically a rooster, is...
Are Your Employees Free Range?
For the past few weeks, l've been writing about employee engagement. Although employee engagement has been on the rise for the past few years, 35% engagement isn't a number that we should consider success. My last article described a company that judged productivity...
Is Boring Beautiful?
If you have ever been to Hawaii, you know that everyone (at least those of us on vacation) makes time to watch the sunset. As the sun begins falling, people start making their way to the beach. During our honeymoon over 15 year ago, my husband and I witnessed people...
The Reward for Pushing Beyond Your “Perceived” Limits
A few weeks ago, I was lamenting that our plans to climb South Sister in July were cancelled. This is the first summer in six years that l’m not training for some adventure. I've completed Hood to Coast and Cycle Oregon, climbed Mt. St. Helens and trained for the...
United Together with a Flock Block
As you probably know, I inherited five chickens last month, two hens and three chicks. It wasn’t long before they all successfully flew the coop. Since then they have been hanging out together, free-range. But about a week ago, I noticed that they weren't all together...
Fearing or Forging the Path Forward?
I finished my chicken coop and have just a few details to wrap up before I bring the chickens home to roost (I’ve been waiting my whole life to say that). But surprisingly, behind these details has been some fear, almost paralyzing enough to keep me from finishing the...
April Showers Bring May Growth
As April comes to a close, I thought I’d share some of what I have learned in the course of the month. This month was so long, it seems I should have a lot of wisdom to impart. But, what I do know is what I have learned this month has allowed me to grow into a...
Enjoying the Small Moments
If you are like me, this quarantine has lost its novelty. I’m ready to go hiking, have another person cook a meal, and hug someone other than my husband (though I do like hugging him). But I know that we are not quite at a point where we can...
A Lesson on Resilience from a Puppy
As you may know, I am in the process of building a chicken coop. This is one of my two goals during the April quarantine. The other goal is to help as many people as possible which has been progressing as well. When I’m out in my woodworking shop, the dogs are...
Tips on How to Make the Most of this Situation
The past week was consumed with planning for either working remotely or adopting social distancing guidelines for businesses that remained open. But, this week has been a little different as the planning phase has been completed and now it is time to execute the plan....