On one of my visits home with my sister we decided to take a stroll through the back property and upper garden of my grandparent's home. They have long passed on and no one has lived there for years. As we tredged through the long grass and overgrowth we came upon Nan’s chicken coop, which immediately brought back bountiful childhood memories of when we used to shoo the chickens out so we could take the eggs and mix them with dirt for chocolate cake. Oh, what scoldings we would get from Nan! I took the picture with a disposable camera on what was a wet and dreary day, so you can imagine my surprise when the film was developed and I was blessed with this beautiful image of the weathered chicken coop surrounded by an amazing array of green foliage, and such colourful flowers in the foreground, which I didn’t even realize were there when I took the picture. I will treasure this image always, as I suspect Nan’s chicken coop will have fallen completely to the ground by the time I visit again. I hope it is worthy of a page in the 2012 Downhome calendar so that others can enjoy it, and perhaps reminisce about similar childhood memories.

Kadie Chadwick
  Submitted By: t.d. chadwick