Okay. Ducks? This merganser family (on the left) floats back and forth all day. (I don’t really know what kind of ducks they are but others are calling them mergansers so I guess I will copy that.)

Geese? This family is relatively calm when a human passes by. Mr. and Mrs. Goose scuttle their tweens out into the water without much ado. Another family I encountered this morning was a bit jumpier, did *not* get the kids into the water and mama commenced to hissssss at me in that “stay away from my babies” way. (I don’t really know if it was mama that hissed at me. How do you determine the gender of a Canada goose when you are 15 feet away and *running* in the opposite direction?)

I must have been in the shower when the loons were calling this morning. Our Northern Correspondent texted me about them. Been a while since I’ve heard a loon here.

Haven’t heard tell of Mr. Bear Nature in a couple days but I guess he is still oot and aboot. Composting activities involving kitchen scraps are not recommended this summer.

Porky? Let me just say I wish that, when the GG drove over to the park store earlier, I had remembered that I needed white whine for the whitefish dish I’m baking tonight. But I didn’t remember and so in the late afternoon, I got into the Frog Hopper and took off for the park store. We have red whine here but I don’t like the idea of purple fish unless that is its natural color. The park store is only 3-4 miles down the road so not a huge waste of gas but still.

As I was cruising down Six Mile (speed limit 55), a rather ungainly aminal was lumbering slowly across the road. Big old porcupine, a lot like the one that used to live in Barb’s garage. An accident waiting to happen and happen it did. No, I did not hit him. I was able to slow down in plenty of time. The person coming the other direction? I don’t think he even saw the porky. Instantaneous.

For a split second, I wasn’t sure I could continue on down the road but of course I did. You couldn’t hit something that size without noticing it but somehow, I assumed it was a hit-and-run. But on the return trip, a car was parked by the side of the road near the porky and its driver was inspecting it for damage. Hopefully he’ll be more careful in the future. As angry as I was, I really can’t be judgmental because I have hit one or two wild aminals in my life, just not something that big and *slow*. Rest in peace, Porky.

Insects? Don’t even ask.

That was going to be the end but then I read this horrific article on annarbor.com about a child who died trying to traverse a bit of Lake Michigan with his dad in a canoe. I have no words. Canoes are not appropriate transport for the “big water” that these folks tried to traverse. I have more to say about that but I don’t think I can do it tonight. Peace to the child who died and to his family, who will never be the same again.

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