From Ducks to Chihuly

Look who paid us a visit yesterday afternoon.  Mr. and Mrs. Duck.  They were resting in our yard as I pulled in the driveway from running errands.  They were a little skittish of paparazzi but I did my best to get as close as I could, since I don't exactly know where the zoom is on my new phone--I'm still learning.   They are the two specks with the dark heads, to the right of our closest tree.

I think this is our third pair to visit in the last few years and I think they pick our yard because of the shade.  I guess even ducks get hot in the sun.  With all the cats and dogs in our neighborhood, I'm hoping they haven't laid eggs nearby.  That could have a real sad ending.

As I'm sitting here, I'm wondering if birds ever get hoarse?  There is a cardinal nearby that's been singing for over an hour and a half, practically non-stop.  It's the same one, I'm pretty sure, and now I'm wondering if they ever get laryngitis?  How would we know,  right?  Another one of life's little quandaries.

From the pictures I've seen, I'm really looking forward to seeing the Chihuly exhibit at the Arboretum.  I saw this morning that it opens this Saturday and runs through November 5th.  I'm either going soon or in October, when Dallas cools off.   Going in the evening might be the most fun, to see them all lit up.  While this one looks a tad "funeral" to me, I'm sure in person, and in the context of the garden, it must look different (?)  It also reminds me of  the balloon guys who blow up all of the long balloons and them twist them to make animals out of them.  Probably NOT what Chihuly was going for but you think so, too, now, don't you?   

  
 P. S.  That bird is still singing.