Duck Tales from Lily Pond

More accurately, duck tails... eleven of them, to be precise.

Each spring, the mallards return to our glorified swamp. Lily Pond was, at one time, a fresh water pond - connected to larger, nearby ponds. However, years ago, road construction obliterated this connection. Set down in a "basin," Lily Pond retains enough water to support a wide variety of waterfowl, shore birds, songbirds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Looking back, I realize that this was a kid's paradise. It's where I learned about newts, salamanders, frogs, toads, turtles (painted and snapping), crayfish, water-striders, dragonflies... well, you get the idea. The spring peepers were deafening this year - a good commentary on our local ecological status. The bullfrogs are testing their new-found basso profundo range, as I write. But, I digress - back to the duck tales...

Our resident pair of mallards has successfully raised eleven ducklings this year, from an unusually early hatching. I've watched for the past few weeks, as the proud parents taught them everything, from swimming to dunking for tasty swamp morsels (yum!). The "ducklings" are now almost as big as the parents, and yesterday I witnessed quite an event in the world of duckdom...

Synchronized dunking! My eyes were attracted by the roiling water, as eleven adolescent ducks (under their parents' tutelage) started dunking for the aforementioned tasty bits.
They were bobbing around, like rubber ducks in a bathtub, when suddenly all eleven of them upended at the same time; hence, synchronized dunking! What are the chances I'd happen to be gawking down the hill, at that precise moment?

Like I said, Duck Tails from Lily Pond!


Postscript: Now get out there and make your own discoveries in the natural world - you'd be amazed at what awaits you.

©Deb Lambert 2007

Writer's Block... "Check"

Pets are all fed, watered and burped... √

Ditto for the backyard birds..................√

Ditto for the plants..................................√

Actually got a whole night's sleep..........√
(No power loss, ergo the fans worked,
ergo the above happened - see 6/27 post.)

I am ready to write...................................√

My fingers hover above the keyboard...√

I am poised on the verge of greatness...√

I am open to inspiration..........................√

"Ohmm," at peace with the world..........√

Any moment, now, it will descend.........√

Reams of brilliance shall pour forth......√

Here it comes.............................................√

Wait for it, wait for it................................√

And, I gut nuttin' .......................................√

Except an urge to garden or clean...........√

ANYTHING OTHER THAN WRITING..√

And you thought this was a good idea?..√

This business of working at home?.........√

Writing for a living?...................................√
(Or, should that be "writing for all you're worth?")

Are you (how to put this?) MAD?..........√

Deep, cleansing breath...............................√

Time to get serious.....................................√

Produce that garden newsletter...............√

OK, here we go, this is it............................√

Wait, I'm thirsty - need water...................√

Oh, look - the Baltimore Oriole................√

I'll be right back, as soon as I do a little backyard birdwatching, just to clear my head after the past two days of mind-numbing heat (gotta blame it on something). Oh, and the dog needs brushing, the house needs cleaning and the gardens need weeding. Whoops - no telling when I'll be back. Don't wait for me - go ahead without me (I'm talking to my muse, here).

WRITER'S BLOCK in place........................√

©Deb Lambert 2007

Seriously?

No, I mean SERIOUSLY?

It's ninety-six degrees in the shade and I have to do what?

The birds are hot, tired, thirsty and dirty?

The container gardens are descending into a cataclysmic, catatonic wilt?

The puppy needs to use "the facilities?"

"Okay, Okay... I'm going!"

I will peel myself off my wooden desk chair, pry my pinkies from the keyboard and head out into the blast furnace heat of a late June heatwave. Let me offer an excuse for this seeming slothfulness and procrastination.

Yesterday, a day every bit as blistering as this one, we lost all contact with modernity - the power was out from 6 PM - 12:30 AM - no fans, radio, TV, computer, etc. For about 5 minutes, I thought, "this is like the old days... now what would our foremothers and fathers have done?" For the next 6 hours and 25 minutes, I said, "For the love of Mike, give me enough electricity for the fans - I'll settle for one fan!"

Somewhere in the night, lulled by the heat, I fell into a stupor, torpor, coma (or some combination, thereof) and was rudely awakened by the ear-piercing cacophony of the hard-wired smoke alarms, as power was restored by Thor, or whoever is the god of electricity. Needless to say (although I'm obviously compelled to do so), I'm in "puddin' head" mode today, lacking my usual brilliance.

But, yes, I'm on my way out to tend to business. After all, it's what we pet-loving, nature-obsessed, plantophiles do - we take care of everything and often fancy ourselves second only to Mother Nature, in the magnitude of our concern for all things living.

Let's go! The plants and animals are depending on you.

Yes, SERIOUSLY!

Deb Lambert ©2007