hovering...

...in mid-air -

and over the ice...

yes - ice! i was not prepared to see ice covering much of the little lake this morning... where many of the ducks hang out. i didn't realize it had been cold enough for it to freeze over - granted the whole of it was not frozen... but enough that the ducks swooping in were caught off guard...

like this one - who seems suspended in mid-air - above the water... looking for a hole to be able to actually plop into the water itself... he missed - and ended up slip sliding across ice - gliding to an eventual stop and then slowly picking his way back across to his buddies... quacking his dismay and displeasure at having been put out in such a fashion.

i agreed with him - chatting the whole time in encouragement... trying hard not to laugh when he landed with a thud on the ice. it wasn't graceful - but did remind me of times when i, too, misstep - misjudge - overcorrect... don't we all do that? it's a part of life... we can take it in stride or be discontented with the outcome. i prefer to go with the flow - try not to let it interfere with my day - be an inconvenience. in the long run it doesn't matter after all, but my response does. my continued positive reactions set up a pattern for life... in how i will deal with things that come my way - will i quack with discontent... or have the perspective that anything - can make for...

a

happy day.....