Ellie lay in state wrapped in a towel in the fiberglass greenhouse
from the day of her death on Tuesday, January 22, until the weather warmed up a
little today. I had hoped it would get warm enough to defrost the ground a
little, but with freezing rain in the forecast, we couldn’t wait long. Hilda
carried the body while I took the shovel back to a quiet place in the trees by
the creek. We interred Ellie in the hole Terry dug for Della back in December
when we thought her death was imminent. I chipped away at the soil piled up by
the hole, dislodging most of it to cover Ellie, still wrapped in her terrycloth
shroud. We put four stones on top of her to discourage scavengers.
The creek had a fair amount of water in it, covered by ice. That
was a bit of good news for such a sad, gray morning. We said our last goodbyes
to Ellie and walked back to the house with a strong, cold wind in our faces.
She was a good chicken. We miss her.
I hope Della makes it to the spring thaw.
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