Ducks...

I did not go duck hunting this year. It's something I did with my dad and something I do and have done with various of my kids at one time or the other as they had time or it held their interest. Sorry guys, family only allowed on this trip. No Duck Commanders are permitted. Looks like we were so busy that there was just no time for a trip to the woods, lakes and sloughs of East Texas this year. I guess I'll just have to write about it to enjoy it. 

Ducks and birds in general symbolize many things to me. Flying, freedom, travel and beauty just to start naming the easiest ones. I thought about that as I watched several flights of 15 or 20 canvasback ducks each pile up against the leeward side of an island on the lake when we were fishing the other day. Photos are grainy because I cropped them up as I could not get real close to make a professional style shot. It's still probably better than I could have done with a shot gun as I said I hunted ducks. I did not mention killing any. 

Not killing any brings to mind a trip from years back. Seems after my father's passing I did not do much duck hunting for a few years till the kids got old enough. They soon learned ducking is one of those things that don't always turn out like you like. You are cold. It rains. The boat won't start. And of course sometimes you lose your way. There are people who think I have lost my way with this blog but what I am now talking about is lost in the woods. It once happened to me and Morgan.  

Last weekend as Morgan and Ali went through old photos and scrap books this document was discovered. Here's the cover. The text is cursive writing so I am guessing third grade. 

First paragraph details where we went, that I shot at a wood duck and we saw a beaver lodge. Good solid reporting where, what, how. Then the last paragraph reads as follows and I quote:

"Then we got lost! So we went to bed. In the morning we got on a road. Then we saw the truck and went home." 

I hope the rest of my days on this old Earth slide by as effortlessly as a story told by a small boy.