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18 July 2010

Look what wandered into our parking lot!

I was on my way out on Wednesday evening when i saw this in the parking lot at work:




 It is a mama duck with three ducklings.  My office is on a busy street & the mama had been out in the street with these three.  A lady from an apartment complex next door shooed them into our parking lot.  



She wanted to catch them & take them to a nearby duck pond, because, frankly, they were going to get smooshed in the busy street.  Lori & i tried to help.  We got the ducklings, but i messed up catching the mama.  Once the babies were caught, she flew away but kept circling the building.  The lady who shooed them said, "Oh well, i can take the babies to the rescue place & they'll raise them."  Lori & i strongly felt that they shouldn't be taken away.  As a compromise, we left them in an open box in the parking lot (it doesn't get any traffic after hours) to see if the mama would come back.  I haven't heard the outcome yet.  




I left when i did so that we didn't all get in an argument about this.  I am an animal lover, but not to the PETA extreme.  I may have strong feelings about something, but i'm not going to argue with a stranger over how to handle the ducks.  I already felt that we messed up & the babies shouldn't be taken from mama.  I meant to call Lori on Friday & find out what happened.  




I've been thinking about something i think is senseless.  In movies or on TV sometimes someone will make someone else angry & they yell, "I'll teach you!" and then they shoot them dead.  "I'll teach you?"  Seriously?  Teach implies that they can learn & change.  Killing is kind of closing the door on teaching.  




Duane sometimes gets upset with our cats or animals in the neighborhood.  He wants to "teach them a lesson" but, i'm sorry, animals don't learn unless you can catch them at that very moment.  Otherwise, it just isn't happening.  Even then it is questionable.  If i see a squirrel chewing on the wood of my deck, i can make him stop by squirting him with water, but i'm not sure it "teaches" him not to do it.  




We have "taught" our cats to not shred toilet paper or paper towels by putting those items in a place where the cats can't get to it.  That won't ever stop them or truly teach them when they have a chance to shred that.  You can't teach a cat not to knock things off a table or shelf if they enjoy doing that.  You can only teach them that if they are caught they will be punished.  




We had loud birds screaming outside our window very early this AM as the bird feeder is now empty.  Duane thinks that "teaching them" will be to never put out food again. 


We attended the Methodist church this AM.  Of all the churches we have visited thus far, i think i like it best for form of service, music, & length of service.  It also was friendly.  I doubt i'll ever really want to "join" a church again, but this is one where i wouldn't mind attending semi-regularly.  Thus far.  Once is not enough to know, i suppose.  Also, i'll be frank, much as i liked a number of good points, the sermon was a bit on the "fluff" side for me.  Now, it spoke to me very much (about letting go, rather than bite down & hang on like a dog on a chew toy), but she carried the analogy all the way thru & only minimally touched on the scripture.  I think i would find that irritating if it was a weekly occurrence.  




I threw in some pics from when Eva & i were down by the Santa Ana River.  Here is another one as well:






It shows how much snow was left on Mount San Gorgonio on 7 July.  Having snow still this late in the season is unusual.  We had a hot week last week, however, & nearly all the snow is gone now.  Our high for the year so far was 84F yesterday.  Lows are still around 50 at night.  We got some rain off & on for a few days, & so it has been more humid than is normal for us.  


The AM i was to put Eva on the train to San Diego, Duane woke up & said, "I miss her already & she's not even gone yet."  Which kind of makes me wonder about re-visiting the adoption issue, but i don't think we can.  



We talked about it, & there are simply too many obsticles in the way of us adopting.  My energy is one.  Eva was very self-entertaining.  I didn't "feel like a mama" while she was with us.  She was a guest, tho perhaps younger than most that we have.  I didn't tell her to help me with making dinner, or that this or that needed to be done.  She read books & went places with us & demanded little to nothing of us & we demanded little to nothing of her.  Parenting would be very, very different.  




She's back in KY now.  It was fun to have her while we did.  I hope she knows we care, for i've a feeling that might make a difference to her in the next year or so.  Her family is going thru so much.  



The bumper Duane ordered for That Jeep finally arrived.  It is very heavy & has a hitch mounted in it.  We have had fun trying to get it attached.  (Well, Duane mostly.)  He broke off an internal nut when trying to force a bolt inside.  I kept telling him the bolt was too big for the hole & he kept stubbornly trying to make it work.  I threaded one of the smaller bolts right in & it fit fine.  His side got stuck & it broke something internal he can't fix.  I'm having a hard time not saying "I told you so!"  (I think i have, a couple of times now.)


I think everyone is out enjoying summer, although So Cal has been very hot the last few days.  No one seems to be posting on blogs or FB or commenting.  I tell myself, "they have lives" but i'm lonely.  I miss folks.  :)  Our cell phones were off for 3 days (we think it was after a lightening strike).  Just got back coverage yesterday, but now it won't let me call anyone as "the network is busy."  We are considering changing from Sprint (after almost 10 years) to Verizon.  We'll see.





This was posted on FB by a massage school where i took some classes long ago, so i leave you with this final thought for the day:  Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.  



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8 comments:

Jessica Renshaw said...

I'll bet if you took the ducklings anywhere, the mother would follow and find them, no? Have you seen the video on Yahoo where the mother duck and ducklings march every morning with the Houston Police Academy? Google it!

Amrita said...

Hi Kathryn, you have a mighty heart. I hope the duckies are safe whereever they are. I would feel the same way, but if the mother ran away then the rescue place would be the best for them.

I have to confess that I have had many 'I 'll teach you moments" Specially as there is no law against stray vandalizing animals.

You know a wild monkey pushed a woman down some stairs and she fell nd died.

Rosemary said...

Well, you tried to help mama duck and the ducklings, so hopefully your efforts were not in vain. I am glad you enjoyed your niece's visit, that's good. The photos are exquisite, as always, love to see beautiful nature through your lens!

Thanks for the kind words about my recipe pages - I don't know that I would have thought of making the pages pretty were it not for having a creative challenge blog, and I like to keep it different so I try to come up with unusual projects that are also useful.

Anonymous said...

Well, seems like there is a lot going on in your life. I do hope the duck situation and the church hunting works out well for you.

Cheri Pryor said...

I really hope the ducklings and their mama were reunited and went off to a safe place. We have wild turkeys all over our business complex and it is not unusual to see babies running amuck with their mamas.

Sounds like your visit with your niece was wonderful.

Hope your summer stays cooler than mine!

donna said...

Enjoyed your post...I have a hard time imagining me involved in a church again...but I never know what God has in store for me...

I miss people at my place too, see lots of my acquaintances visiting other bloggers, clicking right past me...but have come to accept not everyone can handle me...haha! Congrats to those who can !!!

I like your final thought...

hugs
donna

Kathryn said...

I tried to call Lori yesterday, Jes & find out what happened. I'm not sure how far the mama would have followed them. I saw the Houston PD vid!

The mother never flew away, Amrita, until we had all the babies caught. Then she kept circling the building & calling for them. It was rather awful. I wish i'd been a bit more aggressive, for i almost had her twice.

Animals can be quite vicious & dangerous. Anyone who thinks the "natural world" is a warm & fuzzy place hasn't been paying attention!

I'll have to have you come here some time, Rosemary, & teach me how to make my recipe pages look so pretty. :)

Hi Mister Squirrel. Always so good to see you here. :) Busy enough, i guess. I don't think i use my time very efficiently. I don't know about the church hunting. I don't think what we want is out there. (Knowing that we too are flawed.)

Oh, Cheri! You're not too far from Yosemite, are you? Of course, it isn't Big Bear, LOL. Our days have been consistently at 84 & upstairs gets hot, but the altitude keeps it from getting as blazing as down the hill. Maybe you should just take a trip down here. We have 2 extra rooms.

Hi Donna. Ah, yes, the feeling of "invisible blogger." There is a blog i like very much, where she often has interesting discussions. She has hundreds of readers & often will have 50 or more comments. Now that summer is here & she is "only" getting 20-30, she calls herself an "invisible blogger" & is cutting back on posting. I do like her, but i'm rather irritated with that attitude as i don't think i've ever had 20 comments.

Often i think i write so well, or so i tell myself, until i see that nobody else seems to think so. Perspective. :)

Thank you for taking time to comment. I have been bad about doing that recently.

Anonymous said...

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