An utterly charming Valentine’s day tale from mills: For Valentine’s Day, I went to the parking lot of my office building and photographed a new mother duck with her ducklings. The criticism of a human won’t disturb her, so I’ll note that I thought it was poor parenting to ask her offspring -so young they fell more than they walked- to follow her over such a high curb. But they made it! The flung themselves up, gracelessly; they fell back two or three times before their extended legs propelled them forward, like vaulters whose poles were made of taffy. Those photos are below. But these two were left behind; the second-to-last photo shows one of the successful jumpers chirping at them, which he did for almost a minute before turning around and racing to catch up with the rest. Mother and children. Vaulters. Encouragement. Stuck. As our presence was likely preventing the mother from returning, we left shortly after this; the ducklings were really extraordinary to see, although one’s mind naturally turns towards anxious contemplation of what might lie in wait for them. Fear of the sort that involves futurity is something only humans experience, and it is an old moralist trope that fear is the source of all evil. The ducks did seem cold, though. I’m sure their mother returned; I’m sure because I checked. Ducks are my favourite.

An utterly charming Valentine’s day tale from mills:

For Valentine’s Day, I went to the parking lot of my office building and photographed a new mother duck with her ducklings. The criticism of a human won’t disturb her, so I’ll note that I thought it was poor parenting to ask her offspring -so young they fell more than they walked- to follow her over such a high curb.

But they made it! The flung themselves up, gracelessly; they fell back two or three times before their extended legs propelled them forward, like vaulters whose poles were made of taffy. Those photos are below.

But these two were left behind; the second-to-last photo shows one of the successful jumpers chirping at them, which he did for almost a minute before turning around and racing to catch up with the rest.

Mother and children.

Vaulters.

Encouragement.

Stuck.

As our presence was likely preventing the mother from returning, we left shortly after this; the ducklings were really extraordinary to see, although one’s mind naturally turns towards anxious contemplation of what might lie in wait for them. Fear of the sort that involves futurity is something only humans experience, and it is an old moralist trope that fear is the source of all evil.

The ducks did seem cold, though. I’m sure their mother returned; I’m sure because I checked.

Ducks are my favourite.

Feb 17 2009, 2:17pm

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  1. carolinewins reblogged this from tinyunicorn and added:
    hehe. sweet little baby ducks! it makes me happy to be vegetarian :) :)
  2. whileyouweregone reblogged this from mills and added:
    An utterly charming...Ducks are my favourite.
  3. creap reblogged this from afghanibanani
  4. appuntinovalis reblogged this from elvira
  5. mindymae reblogged this from noraleah
  6. noosphere reblogged this from mills
  7. cryssie reblogged this from afghanibanani
  8. caz reblogged this from fatmanatee and added:
    See stuff like this that makes me realise I am really hormonal…. I’ve got tears in my eyes looking at “Encouragement”
  9. ilpiccolopapero reblogged this from elvira
  10. devitalizart reblogged this from elvira
  11. afterworkspecial reblogged this from mills
  12. ackb reblogged this from mills
  13. cvxn reblogged this from fatmanatee
  14. noraleah reblogged this from mills and added:
    cute kid talking about kittens,...Valentine scavenger hunt,
  15. slaughtered reblogged this from mills and added:
    awesomeness. mills:
  16. tinyunicorn reblogged this from mills
  17. afghanibanani reblogged this from fatmanatee and added:
    Agreed! Happy V-Day, Mills.
  18. melanyouth reblogged this from mills and added:
    These are wonderful photos!...ducklings. That is an interesting-looking
  19. fatmanatee reblogged this from mills and added:
    best thing today.
  20. restlessruminations reblogged this from mills and added:
    my Valentine’s Day.
  21. elvira reblogged this from mills
  22. mills posted this
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