Tuesday, September 15, 2015

And So...


Jessie looked around at Lily's new deck and said, "This is a better deck than most bars have."
It's true.
Those girls scrubbed and vacuumed and I did nothing but go get sandwiches for lunch and Jessie even went with me and we wished we'd gotten cake as well.

It's such a beautiful house and the yard is all green and calm and it is so quiet there, the very end of a red clay road and whoever did the yard originally loved plants and there are some I recognize and some I don't and Lily wants to plant blueberries and citrus.

On my way home from the house, I saw a tiny duckling-looking bird sitting right on the edge of the well-traveled road. I drove on a ways and then I couldn't stand it and turned around and came back and parked my car and walked down to it. It was not seemingly injured but ran in fright, it's little paddly feet taking it as fast as it could. A big American truck with camo trimmings pulling a trailer of yard-work equipment stopped in the middle of the road and two guys got out.
"I think that's a mallard," said the older man, redheaded and stocky and I am sure very much a follower and practicer of the hunting arts.
We picked the little fellow up and then the man said he thought maybe it was a "herring," which I think meant "heron" and I don't know what it was. A water bird, for sure, still in down but with a long neck and those webbed feet.
We debated about what to do with it.
The younger guy said he lived on a lake. The older guy said he did too.
"Maybe I'll take it to Francis tomorrow," he said. "I'll keep it until then."
And they took the little birdling gently and we all thanked each other for stopping and they got back into their trucks and went on their way and I went on mine.

My husband is home.

These are the very good things which happened today.


13 comments:

  1. Wildlife in trouble - my heart always sinks when I see that. And I am always glad if someone else stops, too, so that I do not have to make the decisions all alone.

    Are you sure you weren't keeping the littler grandson busy? That's helping, too :)

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  2. Glad that there are some lovely things in your day . I often stop for wildlife but here in Australia the amount of road kill is disturbingly high. Glad that this little fella was rescued .

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  3. I'm such a city girl that the first thing I thought was that those men were going to shoot the bird and bring it home to cook it.

    Ah la, as you say.

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  4. jenny_o- He only wanted to play with my phone and I wouldn't let him so he wasn't too happy with me for awhile but then he came around and made up and all was well.
    My baby boy.

    Leisha- Lots of roadkill here too. So many critters. But maybe this little water bird will make it fine.

    Elizabeth- No. They were very tender and gentle. You just never, ever know, do you? Besides, this one was too small to eat.

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  5. I would want to give up my extreme fear of bugs for a yard like yours and Lily's. Just beautiful. And the bird story kinda brought tears to my eyes. It's so sweet that it was rescued.

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  6. That is indeed a very fine deck. I imagine all sorts of family gatherings right there.

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  7. Once when we were traveling we has just left the hotel when a little bird flew and hit the window. Some men came along and decided the best thing to do was break its neck. I got into my "OVER MY DEAD BODY" phase and they got mad at me. During the argument the bird recovered and flew away. It was fine. Just stunned.

    That tree on its own is perfect. Surely fairies live inside. Maybe it just needs a door do they can come in and out.

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  8. Those kids ar going to love that new place!
    I'm glad your man is home.
    For you.
    Xo

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  9. Love the deck! I hope that little "herring" makes it with Francis, whoever he/she is.

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  10. that is a great deck and yay for them and their new house. the baby bird is not a heron if it had webbed feet.

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  11. Always a tough call to rescue the wild babies, you just never know, maybe the mother is out shopping and will return with a nice little fish for baby. One never knows for sure. One reason why I am never able to watch nature films, nature can be a bitch!

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  12. What a nice deck and backyard! Your grandchildren will have such a great yard to play in. Glad the bird was saved. Gail

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.