Ducks

Ducks

When I first started skateboarding in December 2024, I used to see a mother duck and her ducklings every day. There were seven of them, evidently just born. With the passing weeks they grew and grew. The mother clearly recognized me as time went by and became less afraid for her family. I always counted them to see whether any had perished. By the time they had grown up there were five left, not bad as these things go (but still a pang). Eventually, the mother left them to their own devices as they wandered and fed. I grew as a skateboarder the while. For the last couple of weeks, I have lost sight of them as a group—they must have dispersed as adulthood supervened. Then, yesterday, as I took my daily skateboarding exercise, I was treated to a new sighting: a mother duck with a brand-new brood of ducklings, evidently just born. I was curious: was this the same duck? I approached the group and the mother reacted calmly and in the same manner as before (beak open for food). It was the same duck with a new family—this time of nine small bundles of feathers. That’s a lot of mothering. I expect to watch them grow over the next few months, as I count anxiously. Odd what skateboarding can do.