Animal rescuers extraordinaire

After last week's adventure with the calf, we again found ourselves in the position of baby animal rescuers. Sort of.

On Thursday, I took the kids to a local park with a duck pond. We brought old bread with us to feed the ducks. The kids were thrilled--especially when we spied a duck with seven brand new ducklings (judging by their size, they couldn't have been more than a few days old). However, we quickly learned that ducks don't always make good mothers. While we watched, the mother wandered off toward the water, the ducklings straggling after her as well as they could. The pond here is surrounded by large stones and boulders, so while the duck made it to the water just fine, only two of the seven ducklings made it with her. Then the mama duck turned around and climbed back out of the water, leaving the two ducklings stranded (neither of them could climb over the rocks to get to the mama). The ducklings started peeping frantically.

I thought, briefly, about trying to scoop the ducklings out of the water, but I couldn't remember if ducks were among the birds who would ignore a baby with human scent on them. Instead, the kids and I tried to herd the mama duckling back toward the water, where she could rescue her lost ducklings (she didn't seem very interested in them). When she got close to the water, one of the ducklings finally made it out of the water and Andrew herded it towards the mama duck. We never did find the seventh duckling, although we circled the entire pond looking for it.

One good thing I learned from the episode: I may not always be the mother I want to be, but at least I'm better than a duck!

Other adventures from the week:

Monday afternoon I had the privilege of meeting with some old college professors of mine (I took the kids with me, and they were surprisingly well-behaved). I took a history of civilization course from Francine and Robert Bennion my freshman year at BYU and it was one of my favorite courses while I was there. They taught me a lot about thinking critically, about connecting different historical and theoretical threads. This time, however, we talked about their grandkids, about things we've been doing recently, and Brother Bennion told me stories of his grandfather, who once had Butch Cassidy steal his boots--and who had the gall to steal them back from Butch Cassidy. I've been thinking a bit recently about what the move to digital technology means for universities, and while I think that online lectures can probably replace certain courses, there's something irreplacable about the unique interaction between good teachers and a class full of interested and motivated students. I'm not sure you can replicate that in an online environment (certainly you can't replicate the hikes we took together as a class).

On Tuesday, we had dinner with my friend Cristie and her family. It's lovely to reconnect with old friends--an it makes me happy that our husbands seem to get along well too. Andrew cried when we left--although it wasn't entirely clear if he was sad about leaving his new friend Ben (Cristie's seven-year-old son) or Ben's bionicles . . .

Wednesday morning I took the kids birding near East Bay. We were hoping to see a peregrine falcon (an online bird guide said it was possible to see them in that particular area), but of course that didn't happen. We didn't see a lot--some pelicans, kingbirds, robins, magpies, etc. But I did see a hawk that I still think might be a rough-legged hawk. But Andrew still seems gung-ho for birding, which thrills me no end.

That afternoon, because the weather was *finally* nice, I took the kids swimming at a local splash park/pool. They were surprisingly good--probably because I'd threatened that we'd leave if they didn't stay by me.

Thursday, as I mentioned, we went to the park. That afternoon, we visited a new friend I've made through Segullah who is on bed rest for her pregnancy. It's not often that I feel like I've met a true "kindred spirit" (ala Anne of Green Gables), but I think Emily is one and it was a pleasure to talk to her. Unfortunately, we enjoyed talking so much that I missed my dinner prep-responsibility and had to make it up the next night.

Friday, we were supposed to go up and see Sarah, but Lydia was feeling feverish, so we stayed in town. We didn't do much--we ran errands and in the afternoon Jeni brought her kids over--but those few State College folks who read our blog might be interested in knowing that we ran into Julie Nelson (and her three boys) in the grocery store parking lot.

Saturday, we made our trek up to see Sarah. We took the kids to the zoo (despite the fact that it was one of the first nice Saturday's after school got out). We got passes, so we didn't feel obligated to stay too long. We did go to the bird show, which was more exciting to Andrew than it has been in the past because he knows more about birds now. He finally got to see his peregrine falcon, and was all excited to mark it down in his bird guide. I haven't had the heart to tell him that one's birding list is suppposed to be a list of birds seen in their natural habitat . . .