Up for a challenge??

A friend asked me this just the other day. Knowing we raise chickens she thought she'd have me on the fence. Not so!
This week celebrates the Spring (Vernal) Equinox on the eve of the 21st.. to be exact 1:26 am last night, as well as Easter on the 23rd, both celebrating new beginnings, rebirth of the land and the promise that warmer weather will soon return. Surely, there is no better symbol for this week than the egg.

Now I happen to just love eggs. Fresh eggs are so delicious and nutritious. She proceeded to explain..

"The Equinox is the time to try egg balancing. Take a raw egg out of the fridge the night before so it warms up to room temperature. On the Equinox, you will find that you can balance the egg on a flat surface, on its fat end. It doesn't work right away (I think it takes time for the yolk to settle), but keep at it, and suddenly, it will feel like it locks, and you can remove your fingers, and it stays there - balanced on its fat end. Honest. I'm going to try this--simple minds, simple pleasures -- Are you up for a challenge?"

I didn't have the heart to tell her that balancing eggs on the Vernal Equinox was old fashioned folklore and myth, but went along with her challenge anyway. We both agreed to do the same...she, with her store bought eggs and mine recently pulled out of the nesting boxes in our barn. What I didn't tell her was that most egg farmers know that fresh eggs settle a lot faster than store bought older eggs, so already I feel I have a little edge on her :o)

When she reported in this morning, she wasn't a happy camper.. she simply couldn't get her eggs to stand on end no matter what she tried, or for only a moment or so and was pretty crabby after losing much of last night's sleep trying. Then, she asked me how I did.

I took a deep breath and told her about my eggs & how successful I was to get them to balance on end.. not for only a few moments, but Alas.. these bad boys/or girls finally fell over from I'm sheer exhaution @ 11AM.. so approx 8+ hrs it stood on end.
And the fresh eggs have it! LOL Must be a Nawtheasterner hemisphere thingy! Or Old Gert lays magical eggs!

There was dead silence..yikes! So after I let her stew for a few minutes, I explained.. you can balance a raw egg on end on any day of the year! All you need is some patience and a bit of a steady hand. You'll probably be even more successful if you use fresh eggs! To prove this, get out the eggs and try it for yourself!

Moral of story.. Eat fresh eggs not store bought! Gerty's now running around chicken coop doin' the happy egg dance! Happy Easter everyone!