"Stay under my wings kids...PLEASE!"

Wouldn't it be great if we could keep our children and grandchildren under our wings forever? But, alas...that's not how it works. We love, we teach, we protect, but eventually...that baby has to grow up, that baby has to leave the nest.

This mother of twelve was doing her best. She is flapping her wings because she just got out of the water...after rounding up half of her brood who were dangerously close to the 12 foot drop of the river.

The river and millpond area is a hard place for ducklings to grow up. I think a lot of them fall victim to turtles, and I've even seen rival mothers drowning the babies. If they live long enough to "leave the nest"...they're lucky.

As I was shooting the ducks, a wedding broke out behind me in the gazebo. I did get a few pictures of the bride in white, but am too lazy (and it's too late) to add a Flickr page. Maybe tomorrow.

With the high reaching 92F (31C) today, we attempted to go to the local state park for the first swim of the season. The air was warm, the water was cold, but it didn't bother Merrick. He didn't want to leave.