Good-Bye, Friend

Before the title of this post gets anyone in a tizzy, thinking I'm saying good-bye to this here blog, let me quickly say, I'm not. Still here. Not going anywhere.

We're saying, or already said, good-bye to our lovely and lonely duck, Cheese. Or maybe it's Quackers. Never could tell them apart. But the girls have decided it's Cheese, so it's good-bye Cheese.

Sometime last week, while we were all asleep, warm and safe in our beds, something attacked and killed one of the ducks. Andrew woke me early in the morning to deliver the bad news. The kids didn't know yet, so I hurriedly dressed, then slipped out quietly.

Poor Cheese, he was walking around and around Quackers. His body still and white feathers scattered all around him. I gathered his body and as much of his feathers as I could and laid his body to rest in the woods.  Then I went about and did my usual morning things, fed the chickens and the ducks, excuse me, duck, and burst into tears at the sight of just one lonely duck.

And he was definitely lonely. Those two ducks were the best of pals, maybe they were brothers, and you never saw one without the other. They teamed up and chased after the cats, the chickens, the dog. They'd waddle away, quite pleased they succeeded in their chase, quack, quack, quacking loudly. They roamed the homestead together, happily splashing in their little pool and came as fast as their webbed feet could carry them when I came out with food and scraps.

After Quackers was gone, Cheese tried to pair up with one of the cats, but the cat just ran away.

Cheese tried to pair up with the old Rooster, but he ran away, looking back as if to say, go away you pesky thing!

He tried to hang out with the chickens, but they ignored him, merely tolerating his presence, but I'm sure, as soon as Cheese was out of earshot, the hens cackled behind his back.

Poor Cheese. 

We didn't want to get another duck, but we knew poor Cheese needed a buddy. There's a lovely little pond, about 20 miles from us, I spotted it while out yard sale-ing, and I remembered there were a bunch of white ducks there. I had the children with me that day and we stopped to ohh and aw over them. Let's take Cheese there, we all agreed. Sunday took us to the pond, and it was, indeed, a lovely little pond, and there were the ducks, all hanging out in the shade of the trees. Cheese would be happy here, we knew. 

Knocking on the door of the house closest to the pond, Andrew explained to the owner about Cheese and what had happened to Quackers, and wondered if it was possible to bring Cheese here and leave him with the other ducks. "Why of course we could," he said!

The next day, we took our last pictures of Cheese with the children, said our good-byes, then Andrew drove off with Cheese in a cage in the back of the truck. He opened the door near the water and stepped away, Cheese poked his head out and looked around, spotted the water, then spotted the ducks in the water on the other side of the pond and took off like a shot into the water! He swam right over to the ducks, and Andrew caught this last picture of Cheese about to join the other ducks, then once he was with them, he lost track of Cheese, for he blended right in with the other ducks.

I think he'll be happy here, with other ducks, swimming in a real pond. There are even girl ducks! The owner said they had 4 girls and 3 boys, and Cheese makes 4 boys, so he might even get a girlfriend! We'll come and visit now and then, say hello, and maybe, if we're lucky, come Spring, we'll see baby ducks and one of the proud papas will be Cheese!