A few days after the trip to the skating
rink I walked the kids (minus YaYa, who was at Grandma’s, and *plus* Mary, one
of Lu’s friends that had slept over) to the park.
The goal was to feed the
ducks at the pond. In my youth, that was a simple, legal and frequent
accomplishment. I remember both my parent’s taking me, separately and together,
to toss an old loaf’s worth of bread to the birds many times.
Alas, feeding them is now verboten. I
believe the thinking goes that it disturbs their natural instincts and delays
their migration, in turn disrupting their reproductive and life cycle. No doubt
the scientists are right, and eleven years into fatherhood I had yet to ignore
their commands. Then I decided, what the heck; ya only live once.
Smiley, despite loving birds and ducks in
particular (he carries a mallard stuffed animal called “Ducky” everywhere) was
initially very against this trip, as he is a strong believer in law and order.
Soon, however, the beauty of the birds and their affection for his bread won him
over!
Here’s a duck that looks just like his
stuffed animal, btw:
Anyhow, there’s not a lot of ‘meat’ to this
story. We walked there, we fed the ducks, drawing the attention of every goose
and duck in the park, the kids had a blast and we walked home.
I suppose, looking back, that I could point out how the kids tried to parcel the food out to the tiniest or loneliest of the birds, something that was sweet but didn’t work out so well in the cutthroat world of nature, where the fastest and strongest birds often beat them to the goodies.
I suppose, looking back, that I could point out how the kids tried to parcel the food out to the tiniest or loneliest of the birds, something that was sweet but didn’t work out so well in the cutthroat world of nature, where the fastest and strongest birds often beat them to the goodies.
There was also this fine creature, a super
aggressive, not so intelligent or steady goose that wandered out of the water,
over the rocks and right up to me looking for spoils. Years ago I detested the
geese for the mess their droppings make in the park, but as in most regards I
have mellowed with time, and I thought this bird was rather adorable.
Will we feed the birds again? Eh, I do tend to abide by the law and the well-being of the ecosystem, so I’m leaning towards no . . . but maybe just once or twice. We’ll have to see J
I too used to feed the ducks at the lake front. My Grandfather Hansen would bring corn from up north for us to feed the ducks. I too find it sad that it is now againest the law...
ReplyDelete