When I was out walking this morning I thought of Chicken Little. You DO remember Chicken Little of “the sky is falling” fame?
While most people are immersed in their Easter weekend plans … like dreaming about tomorrow’s feast, donning their new duds, or just devouring their candy, I was meandering along thinking of chickens.
When I was a youngster, I was not allowed to eat candy except on special occasions. Easter was designated as one of those special occasions. In anticipation of the big day, Mom would empty the contents of her old brown wicker sewing basket into a bag and stuff it away somewhere. Her sewing basket was repurposed to hold my Easter goodies. It didn’t look like your traditional Easter basket. No pretty pastel colors, festooned with a huge bow and wrapped in cellophane, but it was very festive nevertheless.
This was thanks to the chickens.
Mom always put chenille chickens all around the edge of the basket. They were cute and fuzzy, yellow-colored chicks with orange wire feet, that she slid in between the woven wicker to secure them to the rim of the basket. Inside the basket, nestled in the shiny green Easter grass, was a tall foil-wrapped bunny, some Laura Secord pastel chocolate suckers, plus the latest “Golden Books” with animal themes to read, re-read and treasure for many years to come.
I was dwelling on the past, reliving those Easter Sundays and chenille chickens lovingly fastened to a basket. They were sweet memories, much sweeter than those chocolate confections ever were.
But soon my mind got to wandering, just like I was wandering along the perimeter path in my favorite woodsy area. Only nothing fell onto my head, like the misfortune endured by Chicken Little as she walked through the woods in that famous folk tale.
You might recall Chicken Little was scared witless, believing the sky would fall, so soon she became the town crier to anyone she met along the way. There’s a moral to the story, and if you don’t remember it, you can find it here: https://www.worldstory.net/en/stories/chicken_little.html
There has been a lot of activity in our sky of late, and that’s not counting all the rain, the potential snowflakes that may be on the way, and wind that is gusting mightily outside right now.
It wasn’t enough that Michigan had that meteor streaking through the night sky, leaving behind meteorite particles back on January 16th; now we find that our part of the Mitten State (Detroit and Southeast Michigan) is likely the landing place for chunks of space debris from China’s Tiangong-1, an 8.5 ton space station that did not already burn up in space. Unlike the meteorites that were scooped up and prized, this is considered a hazmat situation and people are to stay 150 feet clear of the debris. Hmm. I hope it stays away during its final descent now set to occur late Sunday or early Monday.
Last night was the second full moon of the month, also known as a blue moon. Did you see it?
Ten years ago, our neighbor Marge saw a story about sending your name to orbit the moon. She registered my mom and me and printed out the certificates for us.
Recently I found those certificates which I had squirreled away for safekeeping. Coincidentally, a few days later, I heard that NASA is doing a similar project for the sun. You can submit your name to be placed on a microchip on the historic Parker Solar Probe mission, which will launch this Summer. I’ve already done mine a few weeks ago as you see below:
Anyone around the world can submit their name (before April 27th) to be part of this solar fun: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/08/us/fly-your-name-to-the-sun-trnd/index.html
That’s my virtual Easter gift to each of you since I can’t send you those marshmallow Peeps I know you all love so much.
Happy Easter!
[Images of vintage chenille chick and postcard from Pinterest]
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
What special memories you have of Easter! We once had real baby chicks, one each! We kept them in the house for a few days, and then they were put with other chickens outside. My mother said she always knew them, because they would come up close to her at feeding time.
I wondered where the space debris was supposed to land, after reading in the paper that it was headed for the US. Now I know it isn’t targeting me!
I saw the blue moon early this morning, making shadows on the deck. It was most impressive.
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You too with the baby chicks. I had a rabbit years ago. My grandmother was born on a farm and had 8 siblings. All the men left home and had their own farm in the area (Guelph, Ontario). We went to visit one of her brothers and he gave me a white rabbit for Easter. We kept him in a clean bushel basket in the basement. (Basement was finished and I had a playroom down there.) I’d take him out and play with him before and after school plus out in the yard. But he got bigger and had no room in the basket and not healthy for him, so we took him back to the farm.
There was a website in our local paper where you could track this space station, which they say is the size of a bus right now. I went on this website and for the life of me couldn’t track anything. They keep saying that the chances of getting hit are like the odds of winning the Powerball … but someone wins eventually, so someone gets hit eventually as well. Hopefully not, but here is the site; perhaps you get more from it than me: https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=37820
They said the moon viewing would be better early in the morning … I opened up the door to look but it was too late. Glad you got to see it. Only one blue moon for each of the next two years, so good thing you saw it.
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I saw the map which moved every few seconds. There was something about downloading an app or signing up, so I didn’t go further.
I saw the moon in the wee hours. When I woke, the room was very light, so I got up to see it.
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I didn’t delve into it either and I don’t click on any links or download anything that could harm the computer however it was a legitimate site and was featured in our Detroit newspaper, “The Free Press” (online version). I am cautious like you. We’ll hope for the best and all the debris burns up – but it is the size of a bus! I did not look at the moon this morning – I forgot and it was after moon set was over.
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I watched the moon set this morning. Let me amend that. I watched the moon slip behind a mountain. It was beautiful.
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Anne – that sounds absolutely beautiful watching the moon slip behind a mountain. I’d get up with the chickens to watch a sight like that. The moon and the sun have to compete with the rooftops so you can glimpse, but not get a real good luck at a sunset or sunrise, moonset or moonrise … that’s life in the City.
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We didn’t see the sun rise or set when we lived in the suburbs. We also missed rainbows, lightning storms, and starry skies because we lived under tall trees. It’s marvelous to enjoy these sights now.
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I am envious of your view. One of the bloggers I follow lives in Nebraska across from a golf course. His backyard looks onto the golf course. He gets these amazing sunrises and sunsets as there is unobstructed vision.
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I didn’t see the moon last night, but I would have loved to. That’s a cute little chick decoration you’ve got. 🐥🐣
Happy Easter Linda.
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I knew it would still be there this morning Iri, but I was too late for it – the brightest time was actually just before sunrise according to a story I heard on the radio. That is a sample of those chenille chicks and they were the cutest things. After Easter was done, it went back to being a sewing basket again and my grandmother had the same type of basket as my mom that she converted to make an Easter basket as well.
Happy Easter Iri.
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I won’t miss it next time. 🌙
Enjoy your Easter 🐣 celebration.
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🙂 You too Iri.
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It’s so funny you write about chicken little as I just decided the other day I would read a variety of the take-off stories and the original to my class so we can compare and contrast and then watch the movie:)
I love the idea that your mom used her sewing basket- what a great memory:)
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I never saw the “Chicken Little” movie, but read the original book years ago when I was growing up. I remember having all these books that were folk tales and had morals at the end, cute little lessons for kids to learn.
I”m glad you liked the sewing basket story. That is a special memory and I wish I had a picture of it … and, my grandmother did the very same thing. She had the same type of wicker basket … they must have had something in it at one time, maybe a gift basket. So, when we went to her house later in the day, she would do that for me and she lined it with a handkerchief. Nice memories from when I was a little nipper! I had cousins but they lived in Northern Canada and I only saw them at my grandparents’ funerals and for my grandmotoer’s 80th birthday party.
So it was like being the only grandchild.
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Yup I try to include all those fables with morals on a regular basis- they didn’t do us any harm and lots of my students won’t hear them at home!
Wow I can’t imagine being an only, though I did dream about it a lot as a kid🤣
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I agree with you AJ. It seems we were always learning little folk tales and stories that had cute and memorable characters, but an underlying message as well.
Being an only child was nice in some respects, but my parents were older when they had me. Thirty years old is not old by any means, but back in 1956 it was considered old to be starting a family. When you don’t have siblings, you can’t point to them and state your case like “they got to do it, so why can’t I?” I had to blaze my own paths, and often there was no wiggle room! My parents were very strict on top of if.
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Oh that must have been tough!
I came after tough boys so I didn’t rebel simply because I felt sorry for what my parents had already gone through, plus I always had to live down my brother’s reputations!
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Good for you for taking the high road.
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Cute reminiscing, Linda. 🙂 Happy Easter to you, too!
I think Nebraska is also in the main path for possible falling debris,
but it’s supposed to stay cloudy, so I doubt we’ll see any such thing.
When I was about 6 years old, my mom got me and Marty real live chicks
for Easter, We kept them for a month, before mom told us we were taking
them to a farm, where they could continue to grow and thrive. The next year,
we retrieved them, so we could pluck, fry, and eat them for supper.
No, just kidding. 😉 April Fools!
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Thank you – I am glad you liked it Uncle Tree. I am uploading some pictures to use today – taking a long time, so I came here during the process. It was a little nicer today but I had to leave later for my walk as it was very cold and with all the rain yesterday, I had concerns about black ice on the asphalt.
They haven’t mentioned the space station today – it is nonstop talk about the Wolverines’ win and they are in the final championship, plus the Pistons and Wings won as well (that doesn’t happen much anymore so it is a big deal.)
You had me going there for a minute there Uncle Tree! I never had a live chick, but did have a bunny named “Scratch” but my parents did likewise and we returned him to my great-uncle’s farm. He had given Scratch to me in the beginning. It was more humane than keeping him in the bushel basket so he could not escape. He had a warm blanket and some wood shavings so it was a nice habitat for him, but no room to hop around and to be with his kin. 🙂
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Great memories and post📖Happy Easter 🐣 dear🙏✌️
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You too Sharon!
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Another great post, Linda! I missed the blue moon – have been derelict watching or listening to the news – it’s often so full of negative stuff, that sometimes I just can’t stand it! But re Chicken Little, absolutely I remember! My mom used to read me the story when I was little myself, probably around 3 and 4 years old. How I loved it! Thanks for the memory!
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Thank you Ellie. I loved those stories as well. Your mom was like mine, always reading or telling stories and I was like a sponge soaking it all in. I am glad for that interaction, because now I can recall those times with clarity as they seemed to be an everyday occurrence.
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Ditto, Linda. Mine sang songs to me, too! She had a really sweet voice.
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Mine too! They were cut from the same cloth I think. That’s why we are so special. 😉
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My son just texted me that Steven Bochco died. 74. 😞
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I started to “like” – don’t like to hear that. Loved his shows, and the ones that come to mind are L.A. Law and NYPD Blue.
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Hey Linda, can’t remember if I actually replied to this or not. Came down with a beast of a cold but it’s much better now! I *loved* L.A. Law – it was “appointment TV” as they used to say, back in those pre-PVR days. Mind you, we did have a VCR, but somehow I liked to watch it ‘live.’ Great show – plots & characters! Great ensemble cast!
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Glad your cold is going away quickly – I hate when they linger.
Many trees have started dropping their blossoms – I think they are maples, and I am suddenly sneezing like crazy. I’ve gotten allergy shots for decades and now just use an OTC allergy pill but I never left the house today and I’ve been a sneezin’ fool.
I remember that phrase about “appointment TV” and sometimes you had to watch those shows “live” because the next day people would be buzzing about them and you didn’t want the story line divulged if you hadn’t stayed up to see it. Everyone would be milling around while getting their coffee in the kitchen, especially “L.A. Law” because I worked at a law firm. We’d talk about the characters like we knew them personally – the ruthless Arnie Becker especially! I also liked NYPD – never missed it. It was rough when “Judging Amy” came on the same time as “NYPD Blue” (10:00 p.m. on Tuesdays) because we only had one VCR at that time so had no choice but to stay up to see it. I never saw “Hill Street Blues” though I understood it was excellent – I’m guessing it was on opposite another show I watched in the pre-VCR days and that’s why. I never saw “Dougie Howser, M.D.”
I don’t see T.V. anymore as I cancelled my cable in 2010. I remember setttling in for the evening to watch TV from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., then the news – I couldn’t do that now, I’d be nodding off. Then zipping through taped shows or movies over the weekend to catch up. You’d hope no one gave away the plot in the meantime before you got to watch them. And, how about the great mini series shows that were on back in the day? “Roots”, “The Thornbirds” and even “Lonesome Dove” which was a mini series I enjoyed even though I have never been a fan of westerns.
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Will try to carve out time tomorrow to read this, L. Gotta run – bath and then long videochat with John, my loverly long-distance bf. xox
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Ellie – How far away is “long-distance” as to John?
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About 700 miles and a big fat bus fare. Plane is super expensive. Look up Sudbury, Ontario, to Montreal. In any case, he’ll be visiting in June, plus looks like he’ll finally be moving in with my in the fall. He is from here originally. Is there cuz of kids.
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Wow, that is a long-distance relationship Ellie. We had friends of the family and their daughter met a man while visiting Toronto with her girlfriends. They hit it off and they had a long-distance relationship a few years before they finally married and he came over here permanently. He was not sure he wanted to move here. She went to Toronto twice a month/he came here twice a month. A lot of driving, but sill only 500 miles round trip. That’s a long trip and glad he he’ll be a permanent fixture come Fall.
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Wow, that’s a heckuva lot of visits! Ours have been way fewer because of cost. No car. Anyway he’ll be moving here in the fall, so: YAYYYY! 😀
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Good, no more long-distance phone visits after that for you. I was surprised it took them so long to decide where they would eventually live after they married.
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Yes, those L.A. Law characters were AMAZING! Remember the assistant fellow, who was cognitively handicapped? What great acting! And that married couple, Ann & I forget his name. Arnie, bad bad Arnie! I didn’t watch Judging Amy, dunno why. Or Blue. Or Hill. Or Howser, either. I was into thirtysomething in a BIGLY way tho!!! Roots was a gamechanger, incredible. Loved Thornbirds. Missed Dove. Can’t see ’em all! 😀
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I think L.A. Law was my favorite show back then, even more so than NYPD Blue. I remember that guy – his name was Benny, and he got into some type of legal trouble and they defended him, and kept him on as a “runner/clerk” … or, maybe he was there before and got into trouble. I’m fuzzy on that part but that actor won some acclaim with his portrayal of Benny as I recall.
I remember the couple married in real life – he was about a foot taller than her. They were Stewart and Ann in the show (Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker in real life). Arnie was a card and we legal secretaries used to laugh at his secretary Roxanne who was so patient with his antics. Such a great show and I think that is why Jimmy Smits was used on NYPD as he was great on L.A. Law.
I didn’t watch some shows as it would have meant staying up every night (in those years before VCRs) … skipped Hill Street Blues, Cheers and Thirty Something. I’m probably the only person who has never watched Cheers or Friends. What kind of TV watcher was I to miss those? Thornbirds was great – loved the book as well.
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Yes, was his name Larry Drake? Too lazy to check with the IMDb!
You mean she was a foot taller than he was, no?
Loved Roxanne! She had such a crush on Arnie, poor thing.
Thirtysomething wasn’t on late – I used to watch with me daughter, she was a big fan of it too. (She was born in ’68.)
No way! I also didn’t watch Cheers or Friends! Funny eh? We swam against the tide! Lol.
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Yes, Larry Drake – remember his name without consulting IMDb!
Yes, she was a foot taller – I remember reading that somewhere and you really noticed it if they stood side by side.
Yes, Roxanne was a character as was Arnie.
Didn’t know Thirty Something was on early – maybe it was the one night I went to bed early.
Now that’s funny that we swam against the tide. I watched the ending at YouTube a few years back as it was a discussion point on a talk show I was listening to, so I watched it, but it didn’t mean much to me since I didn’t follow the show. Friends I thought was too young for me at the time it was popular. I had a co-worker who subscribed to “TV Guide” and that publication would preview the plot lines for TV shows over a week in advance. She would buy the book and read the plots, then blab them to everyone. We’d run when we saw her comin’!
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Gotta avoid those spoilers at all costs!!
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Miss Linda…………………..that’s kind of cool for Marge to have done that for you and your mother about your names being on an orbit to the moon…………………..you have good memories of Marge and your mother…………………..oh by the way………the morning that I saw those deer I also saw the moon setting………………it was very large and bright and just beautiful………………………..I took a picture of it setting in the West
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Yes, it was a nice surprise for us Ann Marie – at that time, we had not heard of that sending your name to the moon project and she brought over the 8 1/2 X 11 certificates for us and explained it. She created those certificates for everyone in her family as I recall.
How did your picture turn out Ann Marie?
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What beautiful memories. It is true that incidents that occurred decades ago seem fresh in the brain as they occurred today or yesterday. It sure must have been special being an only child- parents must have doted over you.
I think the space station fell somewhere in the Pacific ?
Susie
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It was nice being an only child and my parents did dote on me. They were older when they had me – thirty years old (both of them) and in those days (1956) people started their families younger. My parents were very strict with my upbringing.
Yes, it did fall in the South Pacific and did not injure anyone or anything and that is good because they said it was the size of a bus.
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