The picture shows my Dad in the
Skimmer leaving me behind at the dock. I wanted to ride along badly, but for the sake of not banging my shoulder around, I watched from the dock. The boat is all set to come out of the water - the turbo-chargers are to be removed, serviced and reinstalled for next spring, the oil and filters changed, and the bottom power washed.
I was taking a picture of the new ramp that goes down to the boat dock - when the little boy went by running with bread in a plastic bag, yelling, "I'm gonna feed da DUCKS!!!" His pink life vest is kind of cute and is a "hand-me-down". He and two of his three sisters were all wearing jackets. The exception was the oldest sister, who is about 9 years old, and who was charged with being the lifeguard. She can really swim - I've seen her in the pool swimming non-stop for over 5 hours. The marina is home to two pairs of mature ducks; a white domestic goose named Henrietta; and an odd couple named Oscar, who is a large white duck, and his/her mate Felix, who is a small male mallard. Both sets of 'normal' ducks had a large hatching, 12 and 9, respectively. So the little boy had over twenty ducks to feed.
I have some sad news -
Silkie the boat riding chicken passed away last week - she was attacked by a male peacock defending his brood and killed. The owner was quite devastated and was cheered only when I offered her a loaf of stale bread from the houseboat's refrigerator to feed the ducks. Soon, the incessant quacking was driving everyone crazy.
I got home feeling a little blue since taking the boats out of the water means the summer is officially over for me - and I just looked back at the year gone by and wasn't too impressed with either it, or myself. So I decided to take a little walk to clear my head - a short ways into the walk, I heard these big BOOMING barks that only a large eighty-ninety plus pound dog can make and looked around to see where they were - my hand reaching for the peanut buttered cracker I always carry to give to an "attacking" dog in "self-defense". Being hearing impaired, it is often difficult for me to pinpoint the source of sounds - and in this case the booming barks where even echoing off of a nearby hill. I looked in all the usual places, front doors, side yards, and in the fields beyond the houses but couldn't find the dog(s). And then I raised my head a little and saw them! The white dog nearly fell out the window in his/her enthusiasm to guard the homestead from the intruder on the sidewalk out front. Judging by their posture, they were standing on the floor with their heads hanging over the window sill. Silly doggies! :)
