the first egg

such a gift of first fruits - our friends, ryan and jodie, shared their first chicken egg with us.  we've gone in with them and two other families to raise chickens together, although ryan and jodie are saddled with a bulk of the effort since the chickens reside in their backyard.  we ordered them back in may '08 as adolescents.  they've grown up, all 15 of them, with one ending up unexpectedly as a rooster (his name is dolly and he's quite aggressive).  we've waited all this time for these hens to develop and reach the point where they will begin to produce eggs that we will divide among us and savor.  last week, as a precious gift, our friends gave us the first egg laid.  the next morning we cooked it up for isaac as egg on toast, with promite of course.

in today's usa today, there is an article about the urban backyard chicken-raising phenomenon - http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-01-02-urban-chicken_N.htm.  at this point, we know several people with chickens as food-producing pets.  it's a part of a wider movement of sustainability and local food.  we're just glad lexington allows it.