“If we could make our house a home, and then make it a sanctuary, I think we could truly find paradise on Earth.” – Alexandra Stoddard
I love this quote by famed interior designer, Alexandra Stoddard. It reminds me that sometimes we need to stop and view our home through others’ eyes; even if those “others” are not human, but from the animal kingdom. Here’s the photo without the quote – the mallard reflected in our pool:
With every fiber of my body contesting loudly, I woke to our screaming cat, Coco. Coco, a very spoiled, male Snowshoe Siamese, is obnoxious several times a day and early morning is one of those times. Charlie got up to face our morning monster and I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. It was early. Really early. 5:15 a.m. early. We haven’t used an alarm clock in decades.
After tossing and turning for 45 minutes, I gave up on the idea of going back to sleep and walked into our kitchen, got a cup of jo and walked over to our kitchen window.
And, there they were. A mated pair of Mallards in our pool – their paradise found.
It’s hot and dry where we live in Southern California. We’ve been in a serious drought for many years and our land is barren, kin to a dust bowl with hot, dry Santa Ana winds. So surrounded by mountains of dirt and rocks, I sometimes forget what a true paradise we are privileged to live in until something as simple as a pair of ducks reminds me.
Please forgive that these photos aren’t “crisp”. I took them through glass – through our kitchen window – with a telephoto lens. I didn’t want to go outside to our back yard and scare them away! Here are these beautiful creatures enjoying their morning poolside:
In hindsight, Coco was probably just trying to share these special visitors with us and I all but ignored him. That’ll teach me!
Our paradise found – through the eyes of a pair of ducks!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about birds and ducks)
- A Wing and a Prayer
- Arrivederci
- Be Strong
- Bird Bath
- Carole Hears a Whoo
- Exaltation of Larks!
- Fly
- Make a Place Beautiful
- Operation Swallow Adios
- Poop!
- Running A-Fowl with Coots
- Sweet Baby James
- The Best Nests in the West
- The Bird Feeder and the House Finch
- The Birds and the Bees
- The Swallows Return to Capistrano South
- Use What Talents You Possess
All the photos are beautiful, but especially loved the intro photo. Very nice!
Thanks so much, Anna, for the compliment on my photos! As a budding (and struggling) photographer, I appreciate that you like them! And, thanks so much, too, for being a faithful and loyal reader! Love to you and Mike!