Ducks In A Row

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. - Johann von Goethe

We have ducks in our backyard. You might think from that sentence that we live in a rural area but you would be wrong - we live in the suburbs. The ducks are not swimming happily about in a pond surrounded by cattails with a hidden nest for their little ducklings - oh, no. They have made their peaceful home in the swimming pool next door.

They have actually been coming back to the swimming pool for several years now. When the weather turns warm and sunny, one morning we begin hearing some quacking and realize the ducks have returned. They don't spend the entire day at the pool, so they must have another place they go, but they are there most mornings. Often, they waddle out on the diving board and sun themselves. It's an interesting sight. Ducks on a Diving Board. Sounds like the name of a sandwich at some nouveau restaurant. I have never seen baby ducks so either they don't have any or their nest is located someplace else. Someplace safer.

They seem oblivious to the fact that this is a cement pond and that, when they first return, it is normally covered with a plastic cover. They contentedly swim around in the pools and puddles that have formed on the cover. When the owners remove the cover, the ducks happily plunk in the clear pool water.

The previous owners didn't seem to mind the ducks. They never ran them off or, as far as we could tell, did anything to discourage them from visiting. We are not very friendly neighbors (although we are not unfriendly, just rather aloof) so we never knew how they felt about the ducks.

Some new people have recently bought the house with the pool. The ducks are out there now. I hope the new people don't mind them.

The ducks are part of the neighborhood. They are different and a little special. We kind of...like them.