“Is that you? Duck, duck, duck.” With my neck cranked toward the skylight, I sent my familiar voice upwards, urging the tapping sound, if not a woodpecker or flicker, that the thin, long neck, bill, and beady eyes would show itself.
But nothing.
So, with a mug full of coffee, I stepped onto the less frosty deck panels onto the concrete drive to take in the pink and orange streaks of sunrise. A moment in the 35-degree frozen tundra pushed me to my car, but one more peer over my shoulder, and I saw a tiny head pop out. Surprised, I stopped and said, “So, it was you, duck, duck!” To my pleasant surprise, another dark silhouette appeared against an Easter candy-colored backdrop. “And hey to you two.”
Pet flying ducks are such a treat. Unlike cats, dogs, or caged rodents, their territory is the entire outdoors, not excluding chimney tops.
“We have king-size bars!” The holler came from an opened door as I sat backside of our friend’s golf cart and kids immediately rerouted, u-turned, and sprang up from the sewers to stand in line.
In looking at Evelyn’s Halloween haul, I quickly learned that Tapps Island’s homeowners take October 31st as seriously as an astronaut changing a bolt on the space station. Half a dozen king-size candy bars for a less than 5-year-old? What a dentist’s nightmare that is.
Speaking of that, one of the trunks at Evelyn’s school’s trunk-or-treat was a dentist giving business cards with a $2 per pound candy buyback. Tempting, huh?
Patrick, our greatest friend, avid Star Wars fan, and host extraordinaire for this spooky evening, expressed utter disappointment at seeing a $39.99 price tag on an R2-D2-shaped popcorn popper at Goodwill. THAT is a price he will never pay. At our urging tonight to look up its retail price, he found it listed for $100, sending the ungodly asking price to a more reasonable negotiation.
Also, Patrick’s curiosity got the best of him when he asked about blogging. How do you separate personal issues? What’s it like to put marital troubles on display? Why do you do it?
Once upon a time, these questions sent me into an insecure anxiety spiral. Whereas today, even though there is still a grain of vulnerable angst in the answering process, I’m much, much more secure in knowing why. Like, although most topics are on the table to discuss here, I am mindful of what’s confidential and private for others, and myself. I do share ideas and takeaways from counseling sessions, as I see this as general knowledge that’s relatable and helpful for others. I think there’s a distinct line between the confidentiality of a person’s anonymity and the nuggets of knowledge and wisdom I gain from the relationship with a person. And the fact that Dave felt secure in my sharing the positives and negatives of our relationship was nicely validating. I rarely do it to vent, but rather to share a “Hey, this happened, and this is what we did with it.”
So, a big thank you to Patrick. I appreciated the self-check-in as well as being provided the space and interest to answer.
Happy Halloween all!
Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 