What is the secret to life,
to live it the way it was meant?
Where do I learn survival,
how to feel at peace and content
even in winter’s cold rain,
a calypso of needley sleet
that beats on my head sharp staccato
while ice encrusts my feet?
How do they do it, these ducks,
apparently comfy and warm,
despite the bleak and the biting
of frigid late winter storm?
Could I be as gladly oblivious
to cruelty, bloodshed and dreck
if I wore my own feather bed
and had rubber band for a neck?
Or maybe I’m mistaken,
and they are not placidly sleeping,
but seek pond solitude
for private silent weeping.
And thus, dear reader, ends February. With deadly ice and alien snowfall, with roaring winds and crashing downpours and tornado sirens and mid-day darkness and — of course — more news of suffering and idiocy. I watch the ducks and wonder what they know.
Oddments 
February 28, 2023 at 2:45 pm
We all have to eat, and sometimes, we all have to hide from the world and weep, or at least think about the things that scare us and make us sad. Beautifully written, Maureen.
On the lighter side, I get a shiver up my spine every time I watch a duck go from the land into the ice water.
February 28, 2023 at 3:31 pm
Thanks, Dan. You are right, of course, that sometimes we have to hide and weep. You are also right that our spines freeze when we watch ducks in winter. Mostly I’m glad I’m not a duck.
February 28, 2023 at 3:40 pm
😉
February 28, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Ducks must have their own form of meditation Maureen. I hate to think they might be weeping. 😢
I know like all wild animals, they are insulated against bad weather. But so am I in my heavy coat, hat, gloves, boots and scarf, and I still freeze! And I sure don’t look as beautiful and elegant as this duck does.
Hunker down my friend. Wishing you warmth and safety and that you don’t lose power. Spring is on its way! 🥀🌻🍄🌸🌺🌝
Ginger
February 28, 2023 at 3:33 pm
I will think about duck meditation! Tucking into a wing is likely helpful for that. I wish the same for you, Ginger: warmth and safety and soon the spring!
February 28, 2023 at 10:50 pm
Words I read twice. I think it’s the equivalent of us going back to bed and covering our heads or it could be as simple as me and my mute button for the tv. Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it’s a coping mechanism of some sort which we all can use these days. I’m trying to cope with snow that as been falling for 18 hours straight. So, tonight I will not think about starting the Toro around 9 in the morning and trying to clear it. Ugh. 🙂
March 1, 2023 at 12:02 am
18 hours of snowfall?? Are you kidding? No, don’t think about it! Tuck your head under your wing and don’t look up again until June. I am so sorry to hear how bad it is there! We do need to bury our heads at times.