Dear Reader:

If all “families are composites of stories” this mother duck has layers upon layers of stories ready to be stored up from her 76 ducklings. *(I thought 76 was only for trombones in The Music Man.)

(Excerpt from news article: “Mama Duck with 76 Ducklings on Minnesota Lake Captured in Stunning Photo.”

…”A female duck at a Minnesota lake may have just won the “mom of the year” award.

Amateur photographer Brent Cizek snapped stunning images showing a female duck leading 76 ducklings on Lake Bemidji, about 150 miles northwest of Duluth.

Big groups of ducklings following one female duck isn’t uncommon. A duck can have between 20 and 30 ducklings following her. Ducks also often lay their eggs in other ducks’ nests possibly to increase chances of their ducklings surviving, the National Audubon Society reported.

However, a merganser can usually only incubate up to 20 eggs — making Cizek’s discovery an “extraordinary sighting,” Yale ornithologist Richard O. Prum told the New York Times..

Scientists believe the mother duck picked up several ducklings who were separated from their own mothers, becoming kind of like an “experienced babysitter or surrogate mother.” She will likely continuing caring for the ducklings until they are big enough to go off on their own.”

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*And I thought five grandchildren were enough to keep me swimming in circles. Hats off to this amazing mama duck!

The other day I was flipping through a National Geographic on famous tomb findings and I had a small epiphany. Possessions people sought and coveted in their ancient fleeting short lives were all destined to disappear. Haven’t we all heard the expression “You can’t take it with you“…so why then, do we humans, obsess about more….rather than less…of everything…all the time? Why is greed such a innate flaw in mankind’s history throughout the ages?

In a book I just finished (The Lake House-Kate Morton) a gardener at an old English manor, tells one of the family members that he isn’t interested in acquiring wealth or possessions. His parents had been archaeologists and he saw ‘up close and personal’ the futility of holding onto physical treasures… only to see them buried, in time, under dirt, awaiting the curiosity of future generations. (The same precious treasures men and countries fought and continue to fight over… in vain.)

Instead the gardener said wisely:

“…all that matters to me are people and experiences. Relationships and connections-that’s the thing. That flicker of electricity between people, the invisible tie. It is enough for me that I am able to get myself from one place to the next.”

Wow! How invigorating! In a nutshell… that is where I am in my life now. I remain content with my health status if I can simply keep going…from one place to the next and back home again. It is all I desire and need from life at this stage.

I don’t need to be able to run a marathon or even to walk several miles….a walk around a few blocks will suffice. Being able to get from A to B and back to C make enough perimeters of my circle of life to live it to the fullest.

Life is all about relationships…connections. Nothing else lasts. Building strong links to connections is the best use of our fleeting time on this earth.

Now let me end by sharing the latest family anecdote. When Rutledge and I returned last Wednesday morning with scrap left-overs for the chicken and turtles… I gave Rutledge the biggest bag and just carried a few crumbs with me.

While leaning over the bridge feeding the turtles Mrs. Red sneaked up on me and grabbed my pants leg.

At first I thought it was Rutledge asking for more food to throw…but when I looked down…Mrs. Red had me in a grid-lock. I slowly began moving towards the end of the bridge next to the car….and I was dragging Mrs. Red along with me… slowly beginning to panic. She was not letting go willingly.

(I know this was a ridiculous-looking scene to a passer-by….as I was yanking on my pants leg trying to get it out of the duck’s bill with no success. I yelled for Rutledge to bring more scraps and lure Mrs. Red to open her mouth to eat it while I re-claimed my pants leg again. It finally worked and Rutledge and I made a bee-hive for the car with the chicken scurrying after us.) *One more little story in the Boo Boo-grandchildren adventure collection!

So until tomorrow….Our life is but a breath…we shouldn’t waste it.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

One more “quack” you need to know…

Some of you have already noticed that for the past two days my blog hasn’t shown up on your Facebook page.

This is because Facebook decided (not nice) not to carry WordPress individual blogs anymore…In other words… no longer allowing the publications to transfer from my Facebook Profile sheet to your Facebook Profiles.

Apparently this dilemma has been under negotiations for awhile between Face Book and WordPress but it did not get resolved….so starting in August…this avenue of publication has ceased.

Supposedly there is some way to transfer the post from a profile (Facebook) page to just a Facebook page…but it isn’t simple. Izzy came over and worked for two hours last Tuesday to no avail…and he’s the computer expert. If he can’t fix it…I sure can’t.

So…I don’t want to lose any of you, my wonderful blog family, and there are two other quick, simple options

1.  Become a follower and sign in using your email address….takes just a second to do and then every day the blog will show up on your personal email account.
2. Or just google in Chapel of Hope Stories...and the day’s current blog will appear.
3. In the meantime I will continue looking for a way from my end to change things if I have the opportunity and know-how to do so.

*Eva Cate finished up with her end of the Pop Star camp yesterday and sang a solo accompanied by the class. Her dream came true….sweet little voice. Way to go Eva Cate! She loved the camp and can hardly wait to return! Her passion is still intact!

There is no need to lament the over-abundance of rain the lowcountry has experienced for weeks on end. On the bright side…my grass and the scenery from the Charleston bridges is breath-taking…we have achieved an “Irish” green this summer….so lovely. *(Ironically Anne said the farmers are lamenting in Ireland as they are experiencing drought conditions….started in June and still continues. The world turned upside down.)