What Will This Day Bring...

I had a long, mostly sleepless night, though I did catch a few after 3am, so the alarm had no effect when it went off early this morning. I'm now enjoying my cereal, OJ, and coffee, with Hallmark Movies & Mysteries providing ambient noise in the background. Wondering what this day will bring. A nap, for sure.

The past couple weeks have been unusually stressful. My husband was recovering from a surgery, a friend passed away from cancer much too soon, I had to miss the wedding of a young cousin, and on it went.

Yesterday, we had another duck incident. A mama duck who had nested, unknown to us, in our overgrown front garden, was hit and killed, along with three of her ducklings, in the street by our home. We rounded up the remaining five terrified ducklings, and my husband carefully transported them to a wild bird refuge about 15 miles away which is at least a 30 minute drive, mostly through city streets. About 20 minutes, after he left, my son told me he'd seen another one, but it got away into the heavy vines. I didn't dare try to step in to look without risking stepping on the tiny thing, so we went back inside. Before long I heard it calling for it's mother. Over the next hour, I'd listen for it, go out to look, and spot it briefly before it disappeared again into the greenery. Finally, success! I placed it into a box with a small bowl of water. The bird lady had advised us not to feed ducklings, but to make sure they had water, and bring them out as soon as we could. My dear husband loaded it into his car and headed out for the long drive for the second time, two hours in the car to spare the lives of 6 orphaned ducklings. Next spring, I'm posting a No Vacancy sign in our yard! This neighborhood is no longer a safe nesting place like it was when we moved here years ago.

Cuddling together

"I've got  my eye on you"

The straggler, safe at last.

The refuge is called the Ruth Melichar Bird Center. Here is a link, if you are interested in learning what they do and perhaps donating to help them in their efforts:

Ruth Melichar Bird Center, Idaho Wildlife Rescue

Here is a photo of the center. Most of the birds scattered when my husband approached, but these two were intent on their waterhole. They are cared for and about 70% are later released back into a wild habitat.

It was an unsettling, but exciting weekend. I believe it's now time for an afternoon nap, or maybe another Hallmark mystery.