Sunny Days and Signs of Life

It's only February but I'm already looking for signs of spring, or at least some kind of life in the otherwise barren winter. Especially on sunny days, I love hearing snatches of birdsong or seeing the splashes of green grass. Even the moss on the rooftops makes me kind of happy.

I tromped around in the park by my apartment complex today and saw these trees budding. They were the only ones. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but the best part was when I was crossing the little bridge and realized there were two ducks in the creek. Or rather, a drake and a (female) duck.

I snuck around carefully to try and give them space. They were very timid, and moved into the shadows when I got too close, but otherwise seemed to be simply enjoying themselves in the water. The drake circled the duck protectively. He was very beautiful.

Can you find her?

The duck had such perfect camouflage too.

As I stepped a little closer to get another picture of her, she was startled at how close I was and burst into nervous flight. Her movement alerted a large yellow lab dog who had been wandering around in the bushes by the creek, and he pounced into sight, which made the drake also take off. For a split second I thought what if somebody were to shoot those ducks right now, right in front of me? Right out of the sky. It seemed so odd, and kind of tragic, to me, that anyone would rather shoot a duck than watch one as I had been doing. I felt bad for scaring them, and I hoped that they would be able to find another peaceful place to spend their day. They seemed so contented in their little corner of the creek, and I had thought, what a shame that they were afraid of me, but how are they supposed to tell I'm no danger to them, when for so many decades they have been hunted by humans?

I was so pleased to see them, swimming so peacefully. I can only hope that someday the whole world is a safe place, for them, for the other animals, and for humans too.