Benny arrives in Afghanistan!

John shipped Benny off to his sister in Afghanistan on Saturday, Sept. 13th. Here are some pictures of the sending off party:






And my sister just confirmed that she received him yesteday. Here's her e-mail to John:





Hi Brother, I want you to know that Benny arrived today, in a record 8 days!! I took his picture right out of the box since he was a little weak after no food for 8 days. Almost, as some of my cookies had been eatin but I forgive him. He helped me put on that hideous puke yellow thing. The welcoming party showed up after that so I took a picture of their first meeting. You had a kiss from Texas, a frog from NY, a cat named max who was shy, a rat named it who wasn't sure about benny and vice versa and some others. One or two more were missing and I'm told he'll meet them later. Well, I've got to go. This is a huge picture so i'll send more later. Love, Julie

Here's a picture she took:

I will keep you updated with any other pictures she sends me of Benny from Afghanistan. In the mean time, Benny threatened to sick the "Animal Mob" on me if I didn't continue updating the vacation he took this summer. I'll get on that this weekend, since he's making friends in a war zone!

On The Lamb

A couple of Benny’s friends from the barnyard stopped by today. They were sad he was not around and that he was heading off to Afghanistan.  They were very well behaved for barnyard folk.  Their names were Polly Pork and Lucky Ducky.  They said they were on the lamb for disposing of Leo Lamb.  I tell you I got a chill down my spine when they told that to me.  I am a little freaked out that I let Benny stay with us and from what I gather Benny was a key participant in the disposal of Leo.  Good luck John!  I hope you have not set him off by not feeding him and making him sleep in a box. Polly said that Leo would steal Benny’s food and shove him into small places for fun. I would keep one eye open while you sleep.

Phone call from Benny

I got a frantic phone call from Benny yesterday.  There was a lot of clucking but what I got was that John was not feeding him so he would not weigh so much when John shipped him off to Afghanistan So John did not have to pay so much and he is being forced to sleep in the box he is going to be shipped in.  I have insured Benny John will be taken care of! I Vill deal Vith John in an unpleasant Vay!

                                                                   SVEN!

                                                               

I don't wanna!

John - I'm sorry, Benny, but I'm really too tired to write about your trip tonight.
Benny - And why not? What have you been doing all night?
John - Well, I watched The Weather Channel, then I watched a documentary about 9/11, and then I watched The Weather Channel again.
Benny - So you did nothing fruitful, then?
John - I found out that Galveston is going to be under a lot of water tomorrow night.
Benny - (glares at John)
John - And I remembered how scary 9/11 was.
Benny - (glares with red eyes at John)
John - I'm tired. I'm going to bed.
Benny - (glares with red eyes at John and then pecks on right hand): WRITE NOW!
John - You can't make me!
Benny - (glares with red eyes at John and then pecks on left hand): WRITE NOW!!
John - Man, you're worse than the Daleks! At least they had more emotion!
Benny - WRITE NOW! WRITE NOW!!
John - Later on today. I promise.
Benny - (glares with red eyes at John and pecks at left and right hand): I have my eyes on you. If you don't get any more of my story written, I'm giving permission to Chris and Kathy to chastise, berate, chide, belittle, torment, and ridicule you until you write my story. Capishe?
John - Yes, El Pollo Capitan!
Benny - (glares with red eyes even after the light is turned off, enhancing his creepiness)

Nazi Chicken - continued

Benny: Good job, John! You got one of the trips done! Only 2 more to go! And one of them is a “day” trip!
John: My arm hurts! I’ve been typing forever! Can I get up and get something to drink or eat?
Benny: (in German accent) Nein! You vill finish dee stories! Mein tales moost be extolled!
John: You really are a Nazi, aren’t you?
Benny: Jawohl! Now WRITE! (scary red eyes still glowing)
John: Yes, Mein Commandant Chicken!

My weekend with Anya, Calvin, Ryan and other "larger" people! - August 10th

Day 3 - Today is our last day with the Kufner's. We have to head to more southerly climes before the cool winter breezes blow. (Hey, you can never plan too early). But before we go home, we decided to go to a park. And what a fun park it was! It had monkey bars and a sand pit. I tried out the monkey bars:






I think I'll stick to flying. Doing the monkey bars was very exhausting.!

Then I watched Calvin playing in the sandpit. I thought he might find something exciting, like a corn cob or a pile of hay, so I joined him in his hunt for buried treasure.




Yes, that is me with the bucket and shovel. If John only knew how to take a picture! And he even got my bad side! Oh, well. I didn't find anything worth photographing -- just a bunch of sand!


Well, Michelle (our driver for the day) had to drop us off and then head to her home in Rantoul, so we left right around lunchtime. Again, I did not get fed (although I think Chicken Nuggets were eaten by Calvin and Anya. Why would they do that to my species? Why? They were so nice to me on this trip and then they go and eat Cousin Nuggie. How sad). I helped Michelle with her driving by being a "dashboard driver"





OK, so I didn't do so much as "drive" as I kept an eye on the kids (and John). We made it home fine and went straight to my room. I'd had enough of John to last a while, if you know what I mean.


All in all, the trip up north was fine. A little cool for my tastes, not enough stops at barns and corn silos, but the trip to the zoo was awesome! I look forward to that again! I wonder where my next journey takes me?

My weekend with Anya, Calvin, Ryan and other "larger" people! - August 9th

Day 2 - Today, I was up with the birds (that pun never gets old!). They actually fed me breakfast today! I got pancakes, and man were they good.






Today we're going to go to the RenFaire. From what I understand, there will be lots of people in costumes and tons of barnyard animals running around. I can't wait to see them all!



When we got there, we went in. At least, that's what I gathered. John had me stuck in his pocket all day! (And yes, it really was a chicken in his pocket, despite what some people said!) Thankfully, I was "let out" to play with Anna and Calvin around lunchtime. My aeronautical acrobatics were very impressive! Yes, I had help from the young 'uns, but it was still a lot of fun!






After that, I was so exhausted that I was excited to go back in John's pocket. At least I would have some shade!



We went back to Greg and Jen's place in the mid-afternoon. They took pictures of the children (which was an experience, from what I understand) and they even got a picture of me in a jester's hat.





After that, they ate and I slept. It was a very tiring day! Despite knowing that tomorrow was going to be the last day, I didn't stay up and socialize with the humans. I was tired! So I didn't do much. That aeronautical acrobatic display at lunch wore me out! Don't judge me until you're flown 10,000 miles in my feathers! OK, now I'm cranky. I'm going to sleep. See ya tomorrow.