Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Insomnia

Part of getting older is not sleeping as deeply. At 24 I hardly ever woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. As decades pass, the depth of sleep and ability to stay there declines.

I wake up almost every night for a little while. Sometimes I just get up and go work on my computer. Most nights it seems like a tantalizing possibility if I lay there for a while sleep will return. Usually it does, but last night was one of those nights when I toss and turn for a couple of hours. After a while I get to worrying that somehow I am on the wrong track.

For me, creating this DVD was a leap of faith. When you really believe that something is the right thing to do, the "right livelihood," then not doing it is denying the Higher Power a chance to help you follow your dream.

With the "Beginners Guide" completed I am now working on marketing, calling each State's Cooperative Extension Poultry Specialist and asking them to take a look at the DVD. I have a review DVD in at Tractor Supply Company, another at Agriventures and I need to find other chains that might want to carry it. So far this enterprise has involved sending out a lot of discs and waiting. Very hard.

Tonight I got a letter back from an extension agent in Washington State that was favorable and I added a page to this website about Cooperative Extension reviews. Every extension agent that has written back to me about the video liked it.

One thing I've learned -- all States are not equal when it comes to Poultry. One Northeast expert is from Connecticut and advises states all over that area. Here in California there are experts both in the North and South. States that raise a lot of birds have more poultry programs.

In those States where there is an active Poultry Program, things like auctions for student-raised eggs that can bring as much as $10,000 a dozen draw kids into raising birds. Without an involved expert to organize events, though, there isn't much chance for kids to get started in the fancy.

My hope is that with this DVD as a start and using APA or ABA certified judges at poultry events, even novices can learn to keep the backyard flock tradition alive and compete in poultry shows if they want to.

Having said all that, I think tonight I'll get a good night's sleep.

And on a final chicken note, yesterday and today I planted 36 tomato plants, each with a small frozen chick underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

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