"Slap yourself across the face!"

Sage advice recently given to me by a friend and experienced chicken keeper. I had called her late at night recently after hearing that my local chicken store was getting one of my favorite breeds in on a different day than had been previously planned. The chick arrival calendar had changed and it threw me off completely. Suddenly, I was facing the possibility of getting chicks the very next, brooder-very-unprepared day! If I wanted the Barnevelder I had to decide right now! I had to get chicks tomorrow! And with no brooder! No heat lamp prepared and warmed up beforehand! No classical music cd playing (scientists say chickens love this) upon arrival! No 4 year child in attendance for the big chick shopping trip! It had to happen tomorrow! You get the picture. I was a mess. I even sought the advice of a complete stranger from my backyard chicken Yahoo group (though there is no such thing as strangers among chicken people). I needed serious advice and my mania and panic were reaching alarming levels. I knew my chicken keeper friends would understand. Sue, keeper of 7 hens, humored me for a while about the Barnevelder and then she spat her advice, "Slap yourself across the face! Why are you so hung up on this particular chicken?" I showed my husband the images of the Barnevelder online that I had poured over and studied for months. He was all, "Huh." The Barnevelder is from the Netherlands, which I find irresistible. They're double laced, which is twice as good as single laced. They lay a dark brown egg--now that's worth some heightened emotion, am I right? Ultimately, I must have this chicken. Except something resonated with me about the face slap. It was just what I needed to hear. I needed to stop fixating, breath deep and have faith in chicken fate. The crazy, panic-induced, unprepared day wasn't the right time to get chicks. The right day to get chicks is April 21st. The brooder will be lovingly set up and toasty. The 4 year old will be present and playing hooky from school as planned. We will be standing outside the chicken store early, waiting for them to open, looking like the biggest geeks on earth. And the helpful, patient feed store employees will pick out for us the kindest chickens and we will choose from the breeds they have that day. My face is slapped and I am the better for it.