Thursday, December 30, 2004

Ducks Unlimited and a Bit of Garbage

OtherHalf and I went on excursion to feed the ducks. There’s a lake about ten minutes walk away so we trod down the lanes at the back of houses en route to the lake. Even though this was not officially a litter pickup exercise, I still kept an eye out for abandoned treasure. Sure enough just off the main street on the sidewalk, there was a child’s buggy, new and unused. It made me sad. I can’t imagine why anyone would dump this. We passed a bus stop. An open suitcase lay on the bench. OtherHalf steered me down a nearby back alley as I was just about to leap off to investigate.

Armed with some left over bread we headed down to the lake. Bread isn’t good news for ducks but this was a special loaf stuffed with olives and pumpkin seed. I figured it would give them some nutrients. The ducks started congregating as we approached. They seemed to be expecting us. Maybe they posted look out ducks on our route. Oh – oh seagulls too. Flinging bread to a gaggle of ducks is one thing, but doing it with seagulls around often puts in the ducks in danger. The seagulls are brutal. They dive bomb the ducks in an effort to take the food. It’s a feeding frenzy.

Anyway today we tried to feed only the ducks. It was such an enjoyable experience. Ducks flapped their wings and quacked everywhere. Some got cheeky, climbed on the boardwalk and tried to take the bread right out of the bag. We did not condone that behaviour so they got none. One duck grabbed its booty and flew off with it, chased by six seagulls. Round and round the lake the duck flew, weaving in and out, trying to shake off the bandits. No such luck. Eventually the duck returned and splash landed near us, exhausted and minus a mouthful of food.

After all the bread was gone, we set off home again. We went past the Blogtrain and I caught sight of one missing high heeled black shoes I’d seen a couple of days back. Darn it and I was hoping the one legged disco dancer was out having a blast on the dance floor with it. We trundled up beside the railway line and spotted a green and white bathroom weigh scale on the side of the path. It seemed to be in perfect working order. I resisted the impulse to climb aboard and check my stats as to be honest I’m feeling bloated from the cranberry sauce, turkey, mint chocolate and many glasses of Chardonnay. If its there next week, maybe I’ll give it a whirl. However the scale looks far too valuable. You can bet your bottom dollar it will be gone tomorrow. I’m not surprised by anything I see along the path these days. I’m expecting to find the kitchen sink any minute. With a matching tile unit of course.

No comments: