Chicks Man!

Tuesday morning, and it's going to be a hazy day. The north wind has sent a bluish fog over our valley from wildfires in Utah and as far away as California. My heart goes out to the ones who have lost their homes. It makes me treasure mine even more. My favorite treasure in my yard are the succulent chicks n hens I have scattered all over. I say "you can never have too many chicks n hens". They spread like ivy does, cascading over a pot or down a crevice in a rock. They are red, brown, the colors of a desert. Or they are various shades of green, colors of spring. All summer long they bloom tall spikes with pink daisy like flowers at the end. So delicate and tiny are the flowers it is hard to believe that a tough, drought-tolerant plant could produce something so beautiful. But at the end of their cycle, the spikes bend over, turn brown and fall to earth. Enriching the soil to produce still another day. And just like a brood of hens in a barnyard, baby chicks appear as tiny as the tip of your little finger and grow to be a mother hen. And as they spread around my yard, I know they are happy because I swear I can see them smile.