It began with Jemima, it ended with Charles.
We laughed hilariously as three little ducks under a heat lamp in our kitchen managed to wiggle out of their cage and waddle around the floor chirping. Peter was out of town – we bought the ducks from a neighbor who had a farmhouse of animals. It began a painful 12-year love affair with the ducks. Raccoons, foxes, hawks, snapping turtles and the neighbor’s dog were all finding ways to attack our fluctuating flock. We devised various means of protecting them, housing them, the best in the end was the pond, but nothing was completely successful, especially during nesting season.
Through the years we educated the Cub Scout troop on procreation as the ducks mated outside the living room window, endured calls from neighbors when in the spring they always wandered the street.
We “rescued” ducks from town hall to keep our sad Jemima company after her companions were attacked. We bought more ducks, Cayuga, a beautiful black with green, Khaki Campbell, brown and the well-known white Peking ducks. They nested and we sustained more losses. We tried not to get so attached anymore. Finally there were 9 black ducklings born from a cross of the Peking and Cayuga ducks where the mother duck had nested safely inside the pool fence. It was amazing that day when Alexander came to the back door with a little black duckling in his hand. One of these little ducks was Charles.
Charles lived over 8 amazing years, through all the hot summers and cold winters, heavy snowstorms and the most recent blizzard at Christmas. But today, he is gone, just black feathers on white snow.
I think he had a good life. He was by himself the last two years, he sat in the grass with us while we drank our morning coffee. Running when he heard the garage door to be fed. Sneaking into the pool when the gate was open…
So we say goodbye to our fine feathered friend, Charles, a stately name for a stately duck. Perhaps a lesson in perseverance though, Charles was a survivor - 8 years is a long time for a duck, average life span is 5….
The Monmouth County Arts Council is celebrating 40 years by showcasing 40 of the hundreds artists in Monmouth County. The cross section represents a range of artists and artistry and all photos were taking by my good friend Danny Sanchez. The exhibition runs from June 10-July 31 at the Pollak Gallery at Monmouth University. I was one of the lucky ones to be included in the exhibition. Hope you have time to take a look – it’s an amazing display of images. They are all 20″x30″ or greater which I also had the pleasure of printing and my assistant Will Figg did all the mounting.