Ducks on Lakes

You are looking at our view of Pomme de Terre Lake in the Ozarks in late fall after all the leaves have fallen to the forrest floor. It was a pleasant day so we decided we would walk our ducks down to the lake and "let them go."

So three of us got long sticks which we held sideways, surrounded the five ducks and began to slowly walk toward the lake, gently guiding the ducks to their new freedom, and, we thought, a lake they would just love to explore.

The landscape is all downhill and more steep than people our age prefer but for the ducks, we'd make the journey. It took about half an hour to get them down to the water's edge and with great pleasure we all smiled as we watched them scoot off into the clear blue lake.

We watched them play for awhile then decided to get the dreaded journey back up the hill over with. We trudged up the wooded path, cut through the neighbors yard, and eventually made it all the way back to the top of the hill where our house is.

Guess who was waiting for us: all five ducks. And they did not speak to us or even look at any of us for days. I think we hurt their feelings. They thought we didn't love them anymore and were trying to get rid of them. We do love them and thought we were making a big sacrifice by turning them free on the lake. We had no doubt they would join other ducks migrating south and live happily ever after. Well, they are living happily ever after but they are doing it on my Koi Pond.