Well, today was a sad day. The famous Duck by the lake, holding her quiet vigil everyday with a nice umbrella and food bowl has died. As predicted, the natural law of what I like to call reality won over the well intended community rally to help the misguided and unfortunate duck. Despite the repeated attempts by many do gooders that provided food, water, shelter and even at one point a good night story has found its place in neighborhood lore – soon to be forgotten.
I checked our neighborhood facebook site, just to check in on the mourners. It has now turned into dire warnings to follow the City and State ordinance to not feed ducks. There are now a bunch of Duck police roaming the lakeside looking for any offenders of Critical Duck Theory (CDT). I have now noticed the new signs being placed every 50 feet.
Some posters still do not seem to get what was really going on. Momma Duck, did not have babies after all, or they just did not survive. How could they? Some dog in the neighborhood is probably sleeping in his backyard with a belly full of nice fattened duck this morning. However, check this example post out:
Mother nature was a bit too much. That has to be my favorite line of this post. A bit too much? Last time I checked, mother nature is a itch with a capital B. There is nothing kind and gentle about the mother nature I know. Every once and a while, I will come across a nice day, great view, pleasant breeze, perfect temperature. I cherish those moments. However, most of the time it is hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, pandemics, heat waves, rain storms, hail and who knows what else. Mother Nature will most decidedly kill you if you are not watching out. We forget about that in our nice little comfy homes, with a pleasant well manicured lawn with a lake to walk around each morning. Life is Struggle. There is no denying that.
Love our community and the wildlife at the lake? What about killing the wildlife with your silly meddling? Sorry, little Johnny needs to know that life is hard and if he acts like a irresponsible loser than people are going to treat him like an irresponsible loser. Parents – if you do not like your own children, how is it possible that society is going to like them? Stop coddling kids and accepting bad behavior. Stop feeding the ducks. The duck is going to take what it can get and keep on taking and so is your child. If your kid acts like an idiot, looks like an idiot, well maybe he is an idiot. He if looks like a duck…. Teaching them to love. How about teaching them to be responsible, respectful, and understanding the impact of their actions on others? These people killed the duck and they do not even know it. Isn’t that interesting?
Of course now it has become about controlling teenagers. That sweet mama duck lost her children (and her life btw) because of teenagers? What? Ducks have learned for millions of years to NOT LAY THEIR EGGS OUT IN THE OPEN. When you do that, your eggs get eaten. Plain and simple. Not only was this Duck coaxed into building her nest in this nice shady spot, the neighborhood put a giant neon sign, and brightly colored rainbow umbrella over her with a sign saying – “yummy duck eggs here, come and eat.” How was that teenager fault? If it actually was a teenager. I think it was most likely Fido. Or perhaps, just perhaps, it was this suspicious character – who btw, went missing last night. Coincidence?
Wait a minute. She is worried about Coyotes!!!??? Anyone making the connection here? I mean we live right next to the largest known desert in North America. Maybe, just maybe, a roaming band of Coyotes ate the Duck, and not a roaming band of Skate Board Punks? Just a thought here. Maybe Mother Nature just was a little “bit much.”
Well, we knew this was coming. The same people blaming the teenagers were also noting the poor condition of the Duck.
Funny thing is, if people did call Wildlife Rescue, the first thing they would do is remove this duck from this horrible situation and relocate her away from humans. I mean seriously, momma duck said, “thank you?” More like – I am so comfortable with you humans know that I am kissing your hand goodbye because you killed me.
However, in a moment of pure irony. Or perhaps a well intentioned opportunist – decided to advertise her knew restaurant in the area. Awesome Chinese food, btw. However, in the advertisement she posted several knew dishes. One of which I think was Duck!!! In her defense, I think it is Peking Duck and not Mallard.
You cannot even make this stuff up. Real life drama, the laws of nature unfolding before us. There are so many lessons in this saga that unfolded that I do not know where to begin. I think the main point is that Life is Struggle. You just have to accept that. You will always have struggle, there is no nice place in the shade where you can hang out and eat tiny bread morsels handed to you by passerby. I think we just have to accept we will always have some struggle going on, we need to just learn to live in the moment, enjoy the journey along the way!
Guy Reams
