What the duck?
Yup, another duck doodle. I'm in the time at work that I call "my own personal March Madness", no basketball involved, just a whole stack of deadlines at the office, late nights, no fun*. In the interest of trying to get myself out of the come-home-and-veg thing that I've settled into rather badly during this cold and nasty winter, I dug out a nice little sketchpad I've had around for a while (it's a Dallas company, so probably a gift from one of the Texas clan at some point). The idea is just to come home and draw a little, nothing particularly elaborate, just giving the brain a little creative break after a long day of number crunching. I have all these nice duck pictures from that Sheepshead Bay duck walk I did back in February, this scaup and the bufflehead in the last post are from then.
Last year I was doing a lot of post-work walking, which was better from the fitness point of view, but it's just been too nasty for that to be any fun this year. Assuming Spring finally gets its rear in gear after this (hopefully) one last wintry storm that's coming through tonight, I should start doing that again, I was able to do that 18 mile paddle at the beginning of March OK but the last couple of miles I was definitely feeling what a lazy winter I have allowed myself to have!
* - No fun? Well, maybe a little. Like, there is this thing I am going to tomorrow night with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. woohoo!
PS - Spring IS here and it WILL warm up. Incipient Hyacinth said so.
14 comments:
Quack! What's up, Duck?
What the Duck
is goin' on?
What the dee-di-duckety-duck
is goin' on?
Quack, quack.
No flowers up yet here in SE Michigan, but I did see some skunk cabbage poking up out of the ground when I walked our dog in the woods the other day.
I'm actually headed to Ann Arbor this weekend. Hoping the weather can kindly refrain from messing up either my flight out or my flight back.
Unfortunately not a fun trip, I have a wonderful aunt who's just gone into hospice and although I don't even know what I'm going to say I wanted to go visit while she's still enjoying company.
I used to work for a company based in Ann Arbor. What a quack up.
I am so sorry about your aunt. Being there is the best thing you can do.
As to some things to say - share your great sense of humor, tell her you lover her, talk about your life, talk about the future, share her sadness if she expresses it. All these things will help her to feel connected to you and to life.
I love your duck sketch and envy your artistic talent, Bonnie. All the best.
Bonnie - sorry to hear about your aunt. As Panda said, just being there counts.
I live pretty close to Ann Arbor, in fact 2 of my boys were born at the UM Hospital there.
Thanks, guys. She's been fighting this for a very long time, and she's blown us all away with her attitude the whole time. She would do email updates when she was having treatments -- no one would have ever thought ill of her if she'd ever once said "I am so tired of all of this", but she never once did. One of the most naturally cheerful people I've ever known and she stayed that way all the way through this long, long process.
Well, my dad called this morning and it seems she had to go.
She'd fought a very long fight.
Michigan trip postponed until a memorial gathering.
oh, so sorry she went before you could come visit with her and say goodbye.
Me too, really wanted to say goodbye. Still, better a quick departure than hanging around for a long time in pain. Dad said that the hospice did a good job of keeping her comfortable, and at least I was up-to-date on my Michigan visits, been making it up there pretty regularly for the last couple of years.
Sorry to hear this.
But I do know the hospice programs are better coordinated than they were just a few years ago. Your aunt was likely well cared for.
Never send to ask for whom the duck quacks.
And she only had to be there for a short time. She was in her own home up until just a couple of weeks ago. Her last update was in February and she admitted to being tired but said the weather was nice and she was really happy about the Seahawks winning. That was her all the way through - no matter how much medical crap she was dealing with at any given time, there was always something she was happy about.
Sorry about hijacking what was supposed to be a cheery post about drawing ducks as an antidote to work-related blahs. Aunt Char would've liked that. "I'm working crazy hours, but look, I drew this cool duck". Yes.
Namuamidabutsu.
You didn't need my advice after all, as I should have known from reading your blog for all these years.
In spite of intellectually and spiritually understanding and accepting the human condition for decades, I still have a very hard time of it emotionally at times such as this.
Went to visit a member of K's family in hospital today, which made me think of you and your aunt - though the situation is not so serious. Lots of beautiful blossoms in Japan this time of year to offer color, scent, and the hope of ever renewing life.
I appreciated what you said very much - I was worried about what to say but I think it would've been ok.
Looking forward to some cherry blossom pictures on Bluesette. Hope K's family member feels better soon!
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