A photo essay (lots of pictures in this silly tale!)
For Valentine’s Day, a neighbor brought us chocolate cupcakes for the kids.
I wondered what purpose I could find for this intense intake of sugar and caffeine: what would be the best way to put them to use.
So I decided to take the kids to the park. There they could eat the treat and then run around on the paved path, burning off all the excess energy.
We headed to the duck pond at Battle Point Park.
As I admired a duck, wondering which kind it was, I remembered how Fran had posted that waterfowl could be difficult to identify due to their interbreeding.
At the gazebo, we sat and ate the cupcakes.
While we ate, a few curious birds walked up out of the water, assuming we’d share our snack.
So I threw out a few cake crumbs fallen into the wrapper.
Finally one mallard was brave enough to try them.
Soon of course a crowd began to come.
What one duck does, they all want to do.
But by then the cupcakes were mostly gone.
And I wasn’t sure I should feed the ducks any more:
We were breaking the law.
Despite the absence of the brochures, I knew from my time living on the island, that feeding the ducks at the park had been declared illegal.
The treatment of the sign indicates how well people respect the law.
I wasn’t sure though how much civil disobedience I wanted to practice.
So we simply enjoyed a few more sights at the pond
A puddle on the path reflected branches and Michaela:
The two sisters together:
On the way back to the parking lot, we noted that it is not illegal to water dogs – a faucet and dish are even provided.
However, my progeny revealed their pedigree in microbiology when they pointed out a pink worm enjoying the bowl also.
Back at home, duck goo and chocolate goo were washed off in the bath.
Then another batch of cupcakes arrived at our house.
And now I’m not sure what to do.
The girls are begging to go to the park again. If it was up to them they’d get in the van and go tromp around in the rain, tossing cupcake to the ducks.
But I’m wondering if we should start reading Thoreau or hiring an attorney….
1 response so far ↓
1 Tamara // Feb 20, 2004 at 12:38 pm
I prefer Aldo Leopold’s _Sand County Almanac_ to Thoreau. Thoreau dropped off his laundry at his mother’s house and was afraid of the Maine woods. 😉
I don’t homeschool, but the boys and I have been Nature Explorers lately. I give them drawing notebooks and then we look for something to study. We did the cats last time. I’d hold one while we talked about each part, cat’s behavior, and how they sound. Then they drew as detailed a picture as they were able.
It sound like the girls are on their way to being Naturalists, with or without cupcakes. 🙂