I spent yesterday at the NESCBWI conference. SCBWI is an acronym for Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. If you’ve an aspiring writer, or if you’ve made it and want a community of your peers, then this is the organization to belong to.

Two years ago I went to the conference, but I had so so little hearing left that, even when sitting in the front row, I missed 70% of what the speakers were saying. I didn’t think I’d ever return. But, now, with my CIs, I decided to see whether a conference was a possibility for me. I sat in the front, which is still necessary, but this time I heard 90% of the proceedings. It was the most extraordinary, miraculous experience to be in an audience and to hear what others were hearing. I still miss the quick quips, and if there’s lots of laughter or clapping I can’t hear the words masked by the background noise. But that’s a small quibble. I literally couldn’t believe my ears. I’m sure the talks were excellent. I’ll leave others to blog about them. I paid attention at the time. But now, looking back, all I remember is that I heard. I even went out to dinner and was able to take part in a conversation with three companions in a noisy restaurant. Amazing.

(For those new to my blog, start here. I’m a cyborg. I have two cochlear implants. Without these medical devices, I’m deaf.)

I was so overwhelmed that when Cynthia Lord (yes, that Cynthia Lord, the Newbery Award winner) stopped by my table at the lunch banquet, to ask me how my “girls” are, that I didn’t at first recognize her. It’s hard to hear and see at the same time. I’m still learning to integrate all of the senses. (By the way, Cynthia is a HenCam fan. I like thinking that my hens are flickering on computer screens around the world, calming and inspiring writers.)

When I sat down at the large round banquet table I noticed that the woman next to me had “chicken” printed on her name tag. Wow, I thought, other people are into chickens here, too. Why don’t I have chicken on my name tag? And then I realized that “chicken” was her entree choice. I do live in my own poultry-centric world, don’t I?

It was a two hour drive home. I have a CD of the Beatle’s number 1 hits that I purchased a few years ago. I know the music well-enough that even with a severe hearing loss I could hum along. I haven’t listened to it since getting my second CI. I popped it into the slot. It sounded pretty good. And then, I was so stunned by what I was hearing that I almost had to pull over. Recently I had my CI reprogrammed to give me more high notes. I haven’t heard these sounds since I was a child. Or, maybe never. One of the Beatles was playing a tambourine.

It jingles! It jangles! It rings! I had no idea.

I have a long road trip coming up in May to western New York State. I’m going to get a whole slew of CDs from the library – music I think that I’m familiar with. I wonder what I’ll hear. I wonder what I’ve been missing. I’ll try to keep driving while I’m listening, because I don’t want to be late for my talk at the Farmer’s Museum. I hope to meet some of you there. I can’t wait to hear and see you.

I used random.org to select the winner of the rooster puppets giveaway. It was sheer luck, but the roos couldn’t be going to a better home. Here is the entry from Shelley:

Shelley, I want to see a photo of the roosters and kids at the farmer’s market!

Contrary to what you see in the movie Chicken Run, chickens don’t have teeth.

Like all birds, they have beaks. Which means they can’t chew – at least not in their mouths. Instead, they eat tiny rocks, which are stored in their gizzard. The gizzard is a tough and powerful muscle, and as it squeezes and churns, it uses the rocks to grind up the food.

Today is one of those days that I wish I had a beak and a gizzard. Instead, I have teeth, which despite me doting on them day and night require much attention by my dentist. Today I had a root canal.

I’m taking another pain killer and going back to bed.

I have a large lawn.

I don’t need it to be perfect, but I do try to keep the lawn free of dandelions. The problem with dandelions is that although they’re pretty from a distance, their leaves spread out and kill grass. Eventually you have lumpy, dull greens and bare patches of dirt instead of lawn.

I don’t use chemicals to control the weeds. I know someone who did, and all of the fish in his pond died. Other things, important things, like bugs and microbes, die, too. Besides, even though I don’t want yellow dandelions in my lawn, I do want these pretty little flowers.

So, I dig up the dandelions, one by one.

If I do about four minutes a day of digging, I can keep the dandelions under control. It’s a tedious chore and it makes my back ache. But, I do get immediate gratification because I have a cheering section.

The chickens eagerly scarf up the dandelions. Dark, leafy greens are essential to a flock’s health, and what with how high feed prices have gone up, I feel quite frugal giving them this treat.

Candy eats the flowers and the greens. They are also very good for her digestion and are cooling in hot weather.

But most of the dandelions go to the goats.

They insist.

With their encouragement I’ll be keeping the lawn dandelion-free this summer.

This family of four rooster puppets is ready to find a new home! A long-time blog reader, Jennifer Stamps, was doing a spring cleaning and came across these boys that she had meant to use in her work with children but, like many chickens, they somehow hid out of sight. These puppets are now here at Little Pond Farm, but, as you know, I don’t keep roosters. I want to re-home them with someone who works with kids. Are you a teacher, librarian, homeschooler? Do you have a passel of children to entertain this summer? Do you know of a classroom that would keep these roosters busy? If so, enter the giveaway.

The contest closes on Friday, April 20 at 9 pm EDT. One entry for posting here on HenBlog. If you tweet this contest to your followers, come back and enter again. Post on FaceBook and post here again. Spread the word! These roosters are ready to add noise and mayhem to a classroom. They are up to date on their health certificates and can be shipped internationally, so do enter even if you are not in the USA.

Good-luck!