Monday, June 23, 2014

A Duck and A Dolphin

I know I’ve written about my bayou before, but if you’ll bear with me, I want to share with you an experience I had this spring. There’s always something interesting to watch, but in this particular week Mother Nature outdid herself.

My husband and I usually sit on our bottom deck every afternoon enjoying the scenery and visiting with anyone who happens to come by either from the street or by boat. On this particular evening it was just the two of us, and in the middle of our conversation, he sat up straight and said, “I swear that looks like a duck sitting on my console.” We have our open fisherman on a boatlift, and sure enough, we rushed down the pier and found a big domesticated duck sitting on the control panel behind his steering wheel.

If you know anything about ducks (and I know very little) you know they are not very clean. This one had made himself at home and had (how can I say this nicely) “messed” over everything. My husband was infuriated. I begged him not to hurt the duck, so after a lot of shouting and stomping, he shooed the frightened duck away.

For the next two days war waged between my husband and that duck. My hubby tried everything from waving a big broom, tying ropes around the boat, and even sending the neighbor’s German shepherd down the pier to scare it away. I felt sorry for both the duck and my husband, but I had to laugh.

On the fourth day the duck didn’t come back, but in its place a small dolphin appeared in the harbor. You might think that’s a common sight for us since we live on the coast, but it’s not. Our harbor is about a mile down the bayou and to get to it, the dolphin had to swim through a long, narrow, winding channel. The dolphin stayed in the harbor all day giving us a show as it swam around gracefully. It was so beautiful and so peaceful to watch, and I wished he could stay in our little harbor forever, but for his own good I knew he had to find his way back to open waters safely.

As the sun went down, the quiet of the evening surrounded us. The duck was gone, hubby wasn’t running down the pier, and the dolphin swam peacefully in the harbor. As I took it all in, I smiled because a little marsh hen that hangs around every night flew to the pier and found his spot on the cross ties to wait for something to swim by. Tonight the blue heron didn’t join him, but I figured that was okay. Mother Nature had already given us quite a lot to watch this week.

No matter where you live, I hope you take the time to step outside and see what Mother Nature is doing in your neighborhood. Watch the birds, enjoy the flowers, take a breath of fresh air. There’s always something spectacular or different or even funny surrounding us if we only take the time to look.

Fran McNabb grew up along the beaches, bayous and islands of the Gulf Coast and uses this setting in most of her books. Her working career centered around teaching English and journalism, but now she spends her time writing and painting. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com


10 comments:

  1. Nice post, Fran. I haven't stepped outside yet, but there's a family of wrens out there calling my name.

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  2. It's amazing what we can see outside the walls of our houses! I love the outdoors. Hope your family of wrens put on a show for you.
    Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. Hey Fran - life is awlays an adventure. Maybe you can use all this "research" in your next book

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  4. Thank you for that little mini-vacation, Fran. :) I could see the duck, (and all his mischief), and the dolphin was a treat. I couldn't keep a heron out of our fish pond, so now, it's a bog garden for frogs.

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  5. Lovely, Fran. I live on a spring fed creek and enjoy watching nature, too.

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    1. Loretta, Sofie, and Kathye - thanks for checking out my blog today. I think anyone who lives near the water has something interesting to watch everyday.

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  6. Lovely blog post, Fran. What a treat to see that dolphin playing in your waterways. I can't get outside today since it is so humid and my asthma is giving me fits. But I can sit at the window and enjoy the redbirds, bluejays, and sparrows flitting around the bird feeder. We put up a baffle to keep the squirrels from the bird feeder, but they and the pigeons feast on the seeds scattered on the ground beneath it. Fun to watch from the comfort of my porch.
    Betty

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    1. Bettye, thanks for stopping in. So sorry to hear about your asthma, but I'm glad the birds by your window give you something to watch. Isn't nature a treat!

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  7. I grew up near the coast of Maine and then San Francisco, surrounded by water. The sea is an eternal, ceaselessly moving spectacle. Thank you for reminding me of why I never tire of watching the waves.

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  8. I live about an hour's drive from the coast, so I don't have the opportunities you have to observe coastal wildlife on a daily basis. We do love sitting outside in our backyard, though, observing the birds and the squirrels. This morning a mother raccoon and her four babies woke me up when I heard them grubbing outside near the bedroom window. They were cute to watch, but I was glad our cats were still inside the house!

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