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Big Jack Attack, Part Deux Almost a month ago, I wrote about The Sidekick, and how she and the rooster Jack crossed swords in the henhouse. It was a given that Jack emerged the winner from that engagement. Since then, The Sidekick has been very careful about entering the henhouse, usually opting to carry a little stick that she thinks intimidates Jack. (I'm not sure it has any affect on the cocky old cock, but I'm not about tell her that.) About a week or so after the aforementioned attack (which will most likely go down into the Brown history books as the Great Jack Attack,) it seems there was something of a sequel to the story. I call it Big Jack Attack, Part Deux. Since that fateful day, The Sidekick has been quite cautious when she enters the `scene of the crime' and has made sure there is a pail or her comforting stick with her when she passes through `the valley of the shadow of death', a.k.a. the front pen of the henhouse. She still feeds the hens on the weekends, (I usually feed 'em through the week), so she hypes herself up to walk past Jack. That particular Saturday, I was feeding the sheep while she fed the hens, collected the eggs and did all the other chores in the henhouse. The henhouse is divided into two pens-- one inside the door (Jack's domain) and the next one where the hens stay. The outside door opens into Jack's pad. And when one enters the henhouse, it's necessary to lean a piece of pipe against the door, to keep it from re-opening on its own. The Sidekick was busy with the hens and I stopped in, on my way to the field. I explained how I was heading out to do this and that, and she said she'd join me as soon as she was finished with the hens. I left the henhouse, closed the door and walked to the driving shed to get the tractor. After about 20 minutes, I started to wonder what was taking her so long. She suddenly appeared, red-faced and somewhat agitated. "DO YOU HATE ME??!! YOU LOCKED ME IN THE HENHOUSE!" she said, "YOU LOCKED ME IN WITH THAT #$%^&# ROOSTER!!!" THE TROUBLE IS IN YOUR HORMONES, NOT IN YOUR HEAD... Regaining Balance is Easier than You Think Specializing In Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy, Infertility, Weight Loss, Anti-Aging, Detoxification Therapy 7 Independent & Free Press, Thursday, July 29, 2010 Ted Brown It seems the force of habit is a tough one to break-- when I closed the steel mesh door behind me, I hooked it shut, like I always do. Nothing could get in-- or out. And The Sidekick discovered it as she was trying to escape, er, leave, after feeding the hens. Apparently Jack kept strutting back and forth behind her as she tried to unhook it. I think she was exaggerating a bit. She had spent about 15 minutes trying to reach her finger through the one-inch steel mesh, to flip the hook open. And I figure she also spent more time watching over her shoulder, waiting for Jack to deal a death knell. Obviously he didn't. Despite her very red face (from the elevated blood pressure/adrenaline) and her cute little blonde ringlets (from sweating buckets) she escaped physically unscathed. She has since acknowledged that my locking her in the henhouse was totally unintentional, (my story and I'm stickin' to it, right to the grave). And I must admit, since the weeks have gone by, she's starting to see the humour in it all. She's also now sleeping through the night, and the sound of Jack announcing the break of dawn down in the henhouse isn't causing her to sit bolt upright in bed, sending her into uncontrolled convulsions of fear, and some sort of a twitching thing anymore-- but that just may be the medication is working.... (The recent hot weather has also helped-- the air conditioner in the bedroom drowns out the sound of his crowing.) All in all, we've had a fairly positive outcome, and we have both agreed on one thing. Ted will never, never, ever lock The Sidekick in the henhouse again. 5A Conestoga Drive, Ste. 300, Brampton Eden Integrative Health & Pharmacy Group 905-455-0488 www.edenintegrativehealth.com heritagehockey.goalline.ca www.heritagehockey.com the best of travel throughout the world · AUGUST 23 - 27, 2010 AUGUST Thompson Memorial Arena, HOCKEY Milton ON...GIRLS ONLY! · AUGUST 23 - 27, 2010 SCHOOLS Acton Arena & Community Centre, Acton, ON 7 Day Eastern Caribbean October 31 2010 Ruby Princess Roundtrip Ft Lauderdale ... every week CARIBBEAN BALCONY SPECIALS! 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