"How much are these Chickens going to cost us?"

I was quietly sitting at my laptop merrily typing when Bill glanced over at me. He said I looked so happy with the glow of the computer screen on my face and a smirk slyly working its way to my lips. What was I doing? I was replying to an email that my friend Jaylee sent me questioning the sanity that would be involved in naming her chickens Hera, Hestia and Demeter. She thinks it might be too difficult to explain who the Hera sisters are to all the friends and family that will visit her farm.

For those of you that don't know Jaylee, she has chickens. These chickens are sisters and they don't have names right now. She posted a contest to name her "stupid chickens" and has gotten many, many responses. She's not picked names yet, and got this comment just a few days ago:

"Home and Harvest: The Sisters of Hera"

Though not given a share in ruling the universe, the sisters of Hera (and Zeus) were no less deserving of honors. The original Olympian goddesses assumed “traditional” female responsibilities derived from the functions of ancient earth goddesses. Hera protected marriage and childbirth, Hestia guarded the hearth and home, and Demeter promoted fertility and the harvest. Since these functions played no small role in the earthly lives of mortal men and women, the Greeks (and later the Romans) showed them great reverence. Ancient literature on mythology and religious practices—written exclusively by male authors—offers us few tales about Demeter and Hestia. However, other relics of antiquity—artifacts, graffiti, place names, and so on—provide strong evidence that women in particular directed religious practices and daily worship primarily toward female deities.

Whooshta! That's a mouthful. I read it a couple of times, but I didn't grasp it entirely until I read it aloud to Bill. He looked at me. Then he rolled his eyes in sheer frustration. Then he asked, "how much are these chickens going to cost us?"

There it is folks, mark the date and approximate time. Bill has admitted that we are going to get chickens! Hooray for me. And, best of all, I've got them named already. Female deities and rulers of the universe living in my backyard! It sure beats the 2 stupid dogs I have running around and pooping back there right now.