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Good morning from Huntington Beach.
The summer weather has arrived; balmy days that start with gloomy clouds and end in brilliant rays with coastal breezes. I especially love our early morning walks through the wetlands where the birds are singing and my dog, Ellie, can run a little wild. We wake up with the sun to enjoy this slice of peace each day and boy is it worth it.
Our June gloom morning clouds
For example, earlier this week, David saw a mama duck trying to get about a dozen little babies to follow her across the street in our community. He knew I would want to see them and help so we walked over to where he last saw them. There they were waddling away, in the gutter. Mama kept jumping up onto the curb and turning around to encourage them up as well, but they were too small to make a jump that high, try as they might. So, I handed Ellie’s leash to David and made my way over to them. Naturally they tried to get away from me, but I got as close to them as I could. The mama went into fight mode, immediately hissing and made several attempts to scare me off. The babies cheeped and scrambled to get up the curb as I tried to give them a boost. Mama was NOT having it and her final attempt to shoo me away was her running full speed into my face and pecking me just below my right eye! David brought Ellie closer as a distraction and the mama duck went for her. I scooped up as many babies as possible in one go and gently put them into the grass, with the exception of two very stubborn babes. Mama was upset to say the least but I got every single duckling on the grass and they were quickly following her as she quacked loudly and ran for cover under the bushes. Everyone was safe.
Normally I wouldn’t get so hands on, but each spring I witness countless broods of ducklings dwindle down to just one or two babies in a matter of days. I was worried for these cuties being in the street and my heart couldn’t stand by and do nothing. It was the highlight of my day; even if I felt a bit like Jess from Gilmore Girls getting a black eye from a swan. I wish I had gotten some footage from the event, but it was one of those “in the moment” kind of things.
Another highlight was my mom going to look at a really cool cob house, on 40 acres, that her friend had built nearby. He's moved in with some family members because he can't live on his own anymore. He went with her to tell her all about the house and all the really fun features he added like shelving built into the walls and an artists studio, complete with it’s own bathroom. She’s intrigued even though it needs some work. It might be our first real estate purchase; we still need to crunch some numbers to be sure. With the state of the market as it is, doing our due diligence seems like the wise move, even if I would like things to move a bit faster. We’ll get there…
That’s all for now. Same time next week.
— Sara
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