Duck

      Lulu, the best duck in the world, was killed a couple of days ago in our driveway. It seems that she settled in there for a snooze and somebody ran her over with their car.  She liked to sleep on hard surfaces; in fact the day I found her she was on a road. I was driving to the grocery store one day when I came across a Muscovy duck in the middle of the road. I pulled over and herded her over to the side of the road and continued on my way. When I was finished shopping, I thought that I would drive back the same way that I came, to make sure that she was still safe. Sure enough, she was back on the road. So I herded her over to the side again and noticed a phone number on the mailbox, indicating that eggs were for sale. I called the number and the woman who answered said that yes it was hers but the duck really didn't like her dog and if I could catch her I could have her. So catch her we did. Our younger daughter promptly named her Lulu.  After we had had her for a couple of weeks, I called Lulu’s previous owner to thank her again and tell her how much we were enjoying her. The woman told me that it was a good thing that I had taken her when I did because a couple of days later, a coyote had come and taken everything in her chicken coop. 

     Lulu was a pretty Muscovy duck and as we had a couple of male ducks on our pond already, she laid a lot of eggs, some of which hatched into the cutest little creatures you’ve ever seen. The important thing to know about baby ducks is that they are impossibly cute; only the most jaded and miserable individual could be immune to their charms. Another thing to know is that there is a reason why ducks lay so many eggs; not all of those little cuties are going to make it to adult duck hood. And the third thing is that, like most of nature, we have very little control over these babies and their mama, so keeping them safe is difficult, if not impossible.  They have grown up now of course and are now very handsome, unusual looking ducks.  Such is the circle of life. And so it is that Lulu is no more. I will miss her terribly. We had some good times together, working our way through the garden, looking for slugs.

     I have had quite a few ducks on our farm over time but none had the charm or the grace under pressure that Lulu had. Every once in a while you meet someone special; someone with rare qualities, someone that makes you feel special, like you have known them your whole life. It could be a person or even a dog or maybe even a duck. For me, Lulu was that duck.