Fun in the Fens

The thing about air force bases is that they are usually located in rural farmland.  They need room to land the planes.  So, it is not surprising that we are located in a rural, farming section of England.  We are surrounded by farmland and pig and chicken farms in an area called "the fens".

The fens were a vast area of marshy land with rivers and lakes.  You can read the entire history of the fens including their drainage here.  Essentially, some wealthy businessmen, decided to undertake draining the fens starting in the 1630's.  The "black gold" discussed in the linked article is the peat soil.  The businessmen wanted to drain the fens so that soil could be used for farming.  The term "black gold" is no exaggeration.  The soil is extremely fertile here and I was just driving through an area yesterday where a farmer was tilling his field and noticed that the soil is black.

So- to recap- they drained the fens and now the area is used for farming and raising livestock.  Our village is very small and surrounded by farmland. This translates to the fact that on any given day, when you walk out of our door, you are hit with either the smell of the beets being made into sugar at the nearby British Sugar factory or the smell of poop. Manure, fertilizer, pig farm, chicken farm, the geese behind my house, the pigeons that sit in abundance on the power lines around our house.  All poop.

This past weekend, we were headed home and were struck by the smell of poop.  Now, the different types of farms have different smells.  This was not the usual smell of pig farm poop that I have grown accustomed to.

 I wrinkled my nose and DJ said, "That is that chicken farm right there. I don't know WHY they put a chicken farm RIGHT THERE but when I ride through here on my bike, that smell absolutely envelopes me and threatens to strangle me it is so awful."

"Well, I didn't think it was pig poo, I guess I never noticed the chicken farm right there."

"Oh yeah- it's there alright."

**slight pause and then DJ again**

"Hey kids, do you want to play a game?"

"YES!!!"

"Fun in the Fens!  Part One: Identify that smell!!"

**me, laughing while the kids look confused**

"Yes, that's a great game!  We can call that portion 'Whose Poo are You?'  The next category will be 'Farm Road Obstacle Course: Dodge the Tractors and Pheasants!' "

The kids went back to ignoring us- not in the least bit amused by our antics.

Hey- don't judge- there is no 3G and barely a cell signal out here.  We have to find ways to entertain ourselves.  If we come up with any other categories, I will be sure and let you know.