This was a couple weeks ago when the swan family still had five cygnets. The original hatch was eight. I’m trying to think what happened to the first two that died. Did they get hit by cars? Maybe. They were too big by then for turtles to pull them under and eat them. A third was found dead a while later and people were all upset until someone knowledgeable pointed out that they were fledging and this one had probably hit a power line.

A week or so after this pic, THREE more disappeared, leaving two. After some initial panic, someone pointed out that no bodies had been found. So maybe they flew off to another pond? No one knows. It’s always sad when “we” start losing cygnets but there is a reason that swans hatch five or six or eight cygnets. Because they DON’T all survive and if they did, we’d have swans EVERYWHERE. If you have ever encountered Daddy Swan while in a small non-motorized bote… Well, it isn’t quiiiite like encountering a bear but it’s not too far off.

Of course, QE2 is the hottest news everywhere. I’m sorry for her death but she could not live forever. She did beat out The Comm by five years. The Comm was older than the queen but succumbed at age 91. I am not really a British monarchy fangirl but I did admire QE2. She was a queen with no real power and she knew how to conduct herself with poise under those circumstances. I have to wonder how many times she might have wished she could say, “Off with his head!” I’m looking at the Orange Baboon but I’m sure there were plenty of others. Class act in any case!

When I was five years old QE2 visited my hometown’s sister city, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I have no memories of this and until I looked it up a minute ago, I was thinking it happened before I was born. I’m not sure if she visited our Michigan twin city or not. I’ve tried to look up Canada’s British history but it seems a bit more twisty than I remember. I do know that Canada was more closely connected with Britain in those days. If she did visit, I’m sure she didn’t have issues with the border patrol. Unlike me, I’m sure she didn’t have to use an outhouse but I’ll just about betcha she could rise to that kind of occasion if she had to.

Godspeed, Queen Elizabeth. You will be missed even by those of us who have only the most passing fancy with the British monarchy.

And LONG LIVE THE KING! I think King Charles III might be interesting. I may be a (minor) fan.

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