We ended up rehoming Toey to a friend of a friend. I have been told that she settled into her new home seamlessly. Here at Darwin’s View, her absence was felt most by her former BFF Flopsie, the hen who kept Toey company through her pecking-order trials. With Toey’s departure, Flopsie plummeted to the bottom of that pecking order; in the chicken world, no good deed goes unpunished.

This is “Darwin’s View”! From north of Mount Monadnock to Mount Monadnock herself and onward south to Massachusetts mountain range and then east to WaPack and NorthPac. Quite glorious in any season and on any given day—but fall, with its brilliant colors that tickle the eyes, is my favorite.