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