3 Dead Chickens

~From the porch at Bright Farm~

We went up to the farm this weekend to pick up 3 chickens. 3 dead chickens, since most people hear me say that and assume I mean live ones. The farm is in Floyd, so up the winding roads we go, over Twelve O'Clock Knob with it's rock cliffs on one side and dizzying drop-offs on another. Then up Bent Mountain. One year I noted how there were always butterflies fluttering about as I'm zooming up the mountain (or down), and now I can't help but feel that the trek up Bent Mountain is one spent going around the mountain and trying to dodge butterflies.
The farm is 700 acres, though we've hardly seen it all. A lot of it is wooded, naturally so, which means many people would find it unkempt and unattractive. I like seeing the fields. Not open and prairie-like, but mountainous. Last year there were hogs in one field, very little grass, lots of dirt - on Saturday, it grew tall with wild grasses and flowers, full of life anew.
We picked up our chickens, freshly culled and plucked. Shannon and Tristan ran around with a little girl whose mother was helping out that day. They threw sticks for the lab who greets everyone with a stick in his mouth.
There is something really fantastic about eating food that was just killed that day. That has never seen the inside of a fridge or freezer. I feel the same way whether it is chickens, eggs, vegetables, fruit or fish. I've yet to have the pleasure of other animals. There is just some victorious feeling that comes over you, as if you beat the fridge!
We bbq'd the chicken, even making homemade bbq sauce (Sticky Fingers watch out!!). Served it with a zucchini (fresh from our garden, thank you) casserole. Delightful!
I think about books I've read, along with other articles, that talk about various foods and their purported aphrodisiac qualities. I think the true aphrodisiac is in eating REAL food, and in taking the time to eat it, to notice the flavors and textures, how they feel in your mouth, how the smells waft into your nose and make you dizzy, ravenous, calm, speechless - all the things love does.