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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