Getting Old

Today I discovered that I am getting old.

The first warning sign was when I got a letter inviting me to join AARP. American Association of Retired People?! I mean, I just accepted my first big-girl job! Let's take life one step at a time, okay?!

Disgusted with the fact that society has deemed me old enough to be an AARP member, I decided to get back to my main activity for the day: bird watching. Then I considered the irony of this fact, and decided that maybe AARP had a secret list of people who are bird watching...a list that would probably be 95% actual AARP candidates. So I forgave them for the letter and went back to my elderly activity.

You may scoff at my bird watching, but first of all - it's not like I have a lot of stuff I have to do. I graduated, finished my internship, found a job and an apartment in Nevada, and now I am enjoying the last few days of living out at our lake. The best part about the lake right now is that all of the water fowl (except for the swans) have had their babies!! I am still waiting on one swan's nest, but we have a duck family with nine ducklings and a goose family with six goslings who are consistently splashing around in the part of the lake by our apartment. They are SO FUN to watch! I know I anthropomorphize animals way too much, but it is so much fun to try to decide what they are thinking. For example, all nine baby ducklings do EXACTLY what their mommy duck does. If she is cleaning her feathers, they all start picking at their fluffy bodies. One time she put her head under her wing to take a nap, and INSTANTLY all nine ducklings did the same thing. Except then one of them decided he wasn't actually tired, and poked his head up as if to say, "Guys? Hello? Does anyone want to play?" He started poking around at his siblings, and they would peek out from under their stubby "wings" just long enough to shoot him a glare (yes, ducklings can glare) that said, "DON'T YOU SEE MOMMY IS NAPPING?! WE HAVE TO SLEEP NOW!" Ha ha... Every day she walks them over to a tiny part where the lake has flooded over into the grass, making a tiny pond/puddle area. It looks like a mom taking kids to a community swimming pool. A few times a day she walks them over (where they obediently follow in single file), and then she stands at the edge of the pond/puddle while all of the babies jump in. The swim and splash around for a few minutes, and then the mom duck quacks and turns around. Instantly all of the baby ducks line up again and follow their mom single file back to the nest. It is so cute!

The duck family and goose family don't really get along. I'm not sure what would happen if they actually interacted, but as soon as the geese start to come by the mom duck immediately herds all nine of her babies into the nest and then sits on them. It's actually really good camouflage! I watched her do this, and had I not physically watched her go into the underbrush and sit still, I don't think I would have seen her at all. The goose family definitely didn't. As soon as they waddled by, the mom duck waited for another minute and then stood up. Instantly nine yellow poofs poked out from under her belly as if to say, "Is it safe, Mom? Can we play now? Please? Let's go back to that pool again." It was so cute. I really wish I could have a baby duck. Watching these birds is making it hard for me to leave this awesome place, but I'm sure new adventures await in Nevada. I suppose I will have to put my bird watching habit on hold for a few decades until I become an actual old person. The "new adventures" don't start until we move, though, so until then you can find me sitting on my porch watching the baby birds.

The babies following Mama



Playing in the "pool"



The Goose Family