In the Spring of 1976 I made an impulse buy. In the week or so before Easter you could buy baby chicks that were dyed pink or blue. I am not sure where I was on a Saturday morning, but the store I was in was selling ducklings. I remember bringing the box home to show Amy with two little peepers looking up at us. I don’t remember her mom being thrilled by our new additions, however she was a good sport. How they got their names I am not sure, but welcome to our home on East Broadway, Moses and Carbuncle.
Their cuteness of fluffy down soon turned to the mottled growth of feathers. We had a great backyard complete with a garden. Amy loved to feed them and chase them. Ducks are not for cuddling. When I was around 12, our family got a Blue Dutch rabbit for Easter. He was great, his name was—drum roll—Jumper. We had him for a couple of years. He was really more like a dog. He would play with us in the back yard. Ducks don’t play.
It wasn’t long until we had two white ducks quacking away in their space. Ducks don’t just quack, they poop…a lot. After a slight negotiation with Amy, I suggested that we take them to Meadow Lake park which had a nice lake complete with lots of ducks and geese. I assured her that we could visit them whenever she liked. So off they went. They did not need much convincing as they swam off to duck land.
This past week I asked Amy if she remembered them. She said, “Oh, I remember. You tried to convince me that we could spot them among the plethora of white ducks. Even at three I did not buy it”. I suspect my kids had my number on a whole lot of things that I thought I was pulling off.
My last pet was Wally the Siamese Beta. We had him almost four years. He actually became arthritic. His fins got crooked but he was happy in his own bowl. I would love to have a dog someday, but right now I have to settle for grand dogs.
When we lived in Alamosa we had horses, pigs, rabbits, cats, a dog, and four geese. Now I have bunny rabbits that eat our flowers. They don’t have names.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 