Why do the mean chickens never get eaten?

Anyone who keeps chickens in NH knows that they get eaten. Despite our best efforts to keep them safe, foxes, voles, or birds of prey (death from above), will eventually eat your chickens. But why do the mean ones never get eaten? This winter I am left with one chicken, Red, who literally "pecks the hand that feeds her." To simplify things I moved her coop into the high tunnel temporarily to keep her warmer and try to keep the water from freezing. It works pretty well and I rotate her coop around so she is helping to rototill the new earth. She is still mean, but laying an egg a day so she is earning her keep, sort of.

Why the fertile edge?

For me, the phrase "fertile edge" represents the place where things meet and the interactions that follow that meeting. I gravitate towards these places, both physically and mentally. Physically it might be the intertidal zone, freshly tilled dirt, the horizon, or the seasons. Mentally, it is when I am mixing ideas in new ways or about to cross the threshold to trying something new. Fertile edges are where the opportunities and failures of my life take place. Lately, I have been exploring the edges of new hobbies, my "empty nest," my physical abilities/limitations, and what lies ahead professionally. Fertile edges make me feel excited, nervous, full and driven.

This blog is meant to be a journal to record the edges I am exploring, not to build a following or prove a point. But it is not a diary either. I am happy to share my wonderings with friends and family who wish to explore with me.