The Pond

 

Who doesn't love waterfront property, right?  At ocean coastlines, lakes and bays across the country, real estate with a water view is a premium, costing buyers a pretty penny... his or her firstborn in some places!

Well, I adore the water.  I find such peace sitting beside it...listening to it...absorbing the light it reflects.

So, I was hooked when I climbed the stairs onto the front porch of the "orchard house" and peered out over the spring-fed pond....heard that steady flow of running water splashing over the rustic little spillway.  Soothing. Serene. Right?

"I could sit here all day!"  I announced.

And, yet, something was missing.   While perusing around the pond a week later, now confident that it would be MY pond, examining the vegetation, I realized what it was...DUCKS!  Ponds need ducks!  "They are valuable members of a balanced pond ecosystem."  I declared to know one in particular.  But, "We probably should just wait until next spring for that."

Grace and Rosie thought ducks were a great idea, too!  Knowing it was too late in the year to raise a few ducklings, and being raised in our "instant gratification"  American culture, they visited the small livestock auction at Green Dragon Farmer's Market on Friday night, cash in hand, to check out some mature waterfowl on the eve of our move...

Now, let me preface the rest of the story with this:  we have never owned ducks before. We HAVE owned chickens...and a duck is just a chicken with webbed feet that swallowed a kazoo, right??  Ahem! NO JUDGEMENT PLEASE.

My girls were the winning bidders on a lot of three farm-raised mallards; two males and a female.  The next day, we released them onto the pond...they seemed as happy as....well, as ducks in water!  And, I immediately loved lounging on the porch, watching them paddle gracefully through the water, nibbling at the overgrown plant life.  And, I beamed whenever I heard happy quaking through my open windows.

About two weeks later, while organizing my desk upstairs, I heard quacking and flapping.  I looked out the window to see all three ducks flying away!  Oh No!  I was heartbroken!

Now, about 24 hours later, the female and one male had returned, BUT...

In the meantime, Don, sensing my dismay and wanting to "fix it" as men often do, shared our dilemma with a client of his who promptly offered to give us two male pekin ducks, because she "has too many".  Those are the big domesticated white ones...cute, but not the sharpest tools in the shed.  And, they're too heavy to fly away.

The next day Don released them onto our pond, then we went out for dinner.  

Upon pulling down the lane towards our house two and a half hours later, we noticed that the mallards were contently swimming about, but the pekins were no where to be seen.  Hmmm...  Would someone steal ducks?

Next morning, Don watched the security camera footage that shows any vehicles pulling in or out of our farm lane....darn if those pekins didn't waddle right out the lane and into the county park property across the road!  We searched for them to no avail.  

So now I only had two, two of the original group...but not for long....you'll never guess what happens, and ya can't make this stuff up!

Find out the rest of my duck saga in my next post...."Reba".