Make Way for Little Ducklings

Our Friday Adventure

I finally, finally finished cleaning the pool cover the other day. I had sopped off the dead worms and green algae well over a month ago, but I’d never finished. I like to scrub it all off so that when it rains on the cover I can just run that water into the pool without it being all dirty and gross. Usually that entails lots of towels and brushes. It’s a HORRIBLE job.

And don’t let this photo fool you. The child-labor thing was a once-in-a-lifetime event, taken back in 2008. I have never been able to duplicate it.

However, last year, I bought a fairly cheap little power washer. I’ve never had one of those before. Actually, to be honest, I gave it to Dave for Father’s Day. It’s a little trick of mine. I give gifts to people close to me that I want for myself. Then I try to tell them how much they will love it. When left idle for a week or so, I pounce on it and make it my own. The power washer was a brilliant gift. I went to town last year! And really, before you rise to Dave’s defense, consider that all my projects were like extra gifts to him. Really, it’s true. I was a busy beaver. (though I can’t find the pictures of the teak furniture I tackled with it to show you. oh well)

I haven’t used it much since last spring. I’d already gotten onto the pool cover in about 3 inches of water (which turns into about two feet of water once you step onto it and sink down, pulling all the surrounding water to the deepest point) and used a carwashing brush to scrub the whole thing, when I finally remembered we had a power washer. Duh.

I used the cover pump to pump the dirty water off and the power washer to direct it there. A totally new approach that ended up taking just as much time. But you know what I’m realizing?

WHO CARES?

My point is that the entire time I was doing this, I kept hearing this “bird”; first from one direction, then from another. I actually set down my tools on occasion to try to spot this “peeping” bird in the nearby trees. I never found it. Then, with about about a four foot radius left to clean, Charlie (out of school and bored) suddenly showed up and said “need some help?” Both kids are famous for showing up with ten minutes left of a two hour project, willing to help…

Lola, the dog, was all fired up about something in the area where the pool cover rolls up and finally Charlie says, “Mom, there are DUCKS in here!” So the entire time I was looking in the trees for the “bird” it was actually ducklings right under my feet as I stood on the diving board with the power washer. I seriously don’t know how I could have missed them.

Never did I see a mother duck, so I figured they had been abandoned. So, we set about fixing up a nice little home for them in an old rabbit hutch until we could figure something better out. I was thinking how funny it was, since a good friend had recently called to ask how to take care of a duckling. I told him how easy it was and then hung up thinking “Man, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that!” And here I was suddenly with not one or two, but NINE of them!

Charlie and I spent about an hour bringing the hutch down from the barn, outfitting it with a pond and rocks, a little kennel for shelter, food, bedding… And right about the time we were done, sure enough, a frantic Mallard mom starts circling overhead honking her head off. The ducklings went MENTAL trying to get out.

Moral conflict.

Should we let them out? Will she land? If she does, will she accept them? Oh! The angst!

I was thankful it was Charlie with me and not Morgan. Morgan would steal a baby AWAY from it’s mama if it meant she could keep it. Charlie was all torn up because the babies wanted out. So we undid all our hard work and they scurried away into the deep grass.

I watched for a long time, but never saw the mom come down. I was bummed because I wanted to capture it on camera and present a complete and happy ending to our story. But I can offer you this:

No cat has showed up with a baby duck.

That’s a happy ending, isn’t it?