Friday, March 21, 2014

52 Author Dates ~ Week 12

The track to Blackburn Lake
Feed The Ducks

In my part of the world, feeding the ducks isn't always easy. 

First, you need to find them. 

After our long Aussie summer, some flocks have abandoned their watering holes for lusher grounds. And when you do find them, chances are the local authorities will have already stepped in with restrictions on feeding the wildlife. 

Well, I found my ducks for this week's challenge. They populate the pretty Blackburn Lake and were out on the water, cooling off in the early autumn sun. That's them, the little black dots in the background before they ventured closer. 


Blackburn Lake

But the Do Not Feed The Ducks signs put any birdseed throwing to rest. I knew this might be a possibility, given all the talk recently about the best menu items for lake-fed birds.  


Frozen peas. Earthworms. Chopped lettuce. 


Well, I had none of that in my pocket, but that didn't stop me dragging a dear friend to the lake after a lazy lunch date. 

The challenge...? To observe wildlife interact with each other. Watch how they communicate. Imagine the dialogue they might exchange. 

Really, ducks do that? I wasn't sure. 

Lucky for me I could not have visited with a better accomplice. My lunch date is a skilled voices girl and demonstrates all the conversations her dog might offer, if Koko the pup had human voice to do so. 

She can bring any voiceless creature to life. 

(My friend and I are also quite brilliant at impersonations of folks we've known for years, but we keep those voices well hidden. )


Watching the ducks from the viewing deck
Same thing went for this week's Eurasian Coots and Chestnut Teals...they had no voice.

I don't think we heard a quack from one of them. If they communicated at all, it was through silent bird whispers, lost to me. Instead, they duck-dived for unseen morsels at the bottom of the lake and emerged with hardly a drop on their slick backs. 

Reminding me how often 
my dear friend has counselled me over the years to let troubles fall away like water off a duck's back when bumps in the road threatened to overcome us, relying instead on prayer to voice the deepest aches. The number of times we've shared griefs, only to be cheered with a clever voice and funny story. The way we've encouraged each other to let things go, tangled up in our young mothers' hearts. 

And the writer in me remembered afresh...

there's a time to loosen the tongue in song or goofy role play, 

a time for venting in the ear of a trusted friend, 

and time to cast our voice at the feet of Him who hears and carries our griefs. 

Each voice a different sound. Sometimes, even no sound. Like our duck friends. But all part of the dialogue of well-rounded characters ~ spoken or unspoken. 



Blessings for a wonderful weekend, dear friends.
May you be the voice of encouragement to someone's heart.