Totally Violated!!!!!

Awww... look at the cute little duck.

His name is Star and he was the cutest little duck ever!  I fell in love with him at first site.  I'll never forget the day we brought him home ... the day he stole our hearts! Soft, yellow, cuddly, precious little ball of joy.  That was our Star.

As he grew, he became quite the ladies man...  a charmer... stealing the hearts of the local ladies

He was a born leader... a role model like no other... The other drakes looked up to him ... emulated his every move...

But there was trouble brewing in this young duck's heart.  He became agitated, angry, and restless.  

Let me clarify that mating season is in full swing!  Our four drakes chase each other around the pasture vying for Top Duck... A literal pecking order ...waiting for the day when we finally get some hens and they can impress the heck out of the ladies!


Let me just say now, We need some Hens!  


















Here is my story...


The other day I was walking in the pasture having just fed our chickens.  It was a bright, sunny day with a gentle breeze that lifted tender tendrils of hair from the nape of my neck. The sun kissed the crown of my head; the warmth making its way to my shoulders.  Our alpha male duck, Star, was viciously attacking Sam-I-Am, a younger drake who struggled to keep one step ahead of his attacker.  I picked Star up to protect Sam and calm our agitated drake.  He stood, struggling to maintain his balance, on my arm.  I started to sooth him with a soft voice when he suddenly and totally unexpectedly raced up my arm to my shoulder and back of my neck, grabbed a thick lock of my hair in his beak and starting flapping his wings wildly while beginning, what became evidently clear in a matter of one second, a mating behavior!!!


I guarantee that if anyone else had been in the pasture at that moment or in a passing car on the road, they would have thought I was fighting off a dozen venomous snakes or covered in flesh-eating ants.  I can't vouch for the words that escaped my mouth during those few moments!  All I know is that I felt Totally Violated!  He had a death grip on my hair and as he was on the back of my neck, I couldn't reach around to grab him.  His wings were flapping wildly and I couldn't get a grip on anything!  The seconds seemed to turn to minutes... minutes to hours as I tried to fight off this very active Duck!  I was spinning in circles trying to shake him off!  There was no one to call to for help, there was no one to call 911, there was no one but me and that STUPID duck attacking me!  I was finally able to grab my hair and rip it free from his grip (losing some hair in the process).  As he reached for my hair again, he bit my fingers that were desperately fighting him off!  I was finally able to dislodge him from my neck and as he flew to the ground, I turned on him with such outrage and disbelief!  


He looked up at me with those little duck eyes, all innocent and sweet... I swear there was a smirk on his beak! 

I wanted to kick him square in his stupid beak and give him a piece of my mind, but I turned and raced out of the pasture.  I had been violated!  I guarantee that he is no longer and will never again be "that cute wittle ducky"!  


In preparation for writing this blog, I did some research on the mating behaviors of ducks and this is what I found:




In an article titled, Duck Mating, the sex lives of ducks by Sally Schloss, her first sentence reads, "Rape is not typically something you associate with those darling “duckies” who bob along the surface of the water to the delight of children and adults at the local pond. " - http://www.webvet.com/main/2009/01/09/duck-mating-sex-lives-ducks


No KIDDING!  I learned more from this article than I ever wanted to know about my pet ducks!




Well, needless to say, Star is my duck and I still love him (No, you can't have him, Morgan Allen!)  I may not approve of his recent behavior, but like any of my other children, he needs to learn a good lesson!!!  

So the daily adventures of raising ducks continues! 

A Kick-Ass Adventure

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." ~~ Henry David Thoreau

Have you Lived?  Really Lived?  How does one live their Life to the fullest?  How does one determine the value of the life they lived?  How do you determine if it was a life well lived or not?  As a child I thought having lots and lots of people at my funeral showed the value of the life I had lived, the number of people who loved me, and if people cried for me the more the better.  Didn't that mean that my life was Awesome if people cried over my passing?  Childish views!

What do I need to do in my life to make sure it is Lived Well and Good and Deliberate?  Maybe I need a really long bucket list.  Isn't that the "In" thing right now.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'd love to have the job of "Idiot Abroad"... What I wouldn't give to be able to experience the things he has experienced.  Of course, I would be terrible for that show because I wouldn't complain and whine enough.  

Maybe I need to participate in death-defying stunts or high adrenaline extreme sports like sky-diving.  I need to go on grand adventures around the world, or at least around the contiguous United States.  Perhaps I can determine the value of my life lived by the house I have built, the money I have saved, my investments, my accomplishments, my awards and accolades.   Or better yet, by the spiritual life I have lived.  Having lived a healthy, wholesome life would also be a great determination of the value of my life lived.

Ummmmm... NO!  That's just it, my idea of living a Great life is not determined by how risky, how lavish, how experienced, how long, how spiritual a life I live.  My life is based on what I value... your life is based on what you value.  Others will critique my life once I am gone.  Some will find it necessary to put a value to the life I lived.  They will give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down, but it won't matter because I won't be there anymore.  I will be in a better place and starting on new adventures and a new life.  

I am, right now, at this very moment, living a Great life.  Now I might not feel the same way 6 months from now if a major life change happens that takes me by surprise.  Something unexpected happens to tilt my cozy little world on end and jumble up the balance I have maintained.  But isn't that what life is best at?  Life is great at tumbling things around, adding that extra weight or two or three to one side of my scale.  It's what is the most frustrating, most expected, and most exciting part of life:  That tipping of the balance we have worked so hard to create.  

Have I Lived?  I have lived deliberately at many different times of my life.  I have watched as my carefully balanced scale has been disrupted and tipped horrendously to one side.  I have reacted to situations in life, and I have deliberately made decisions to regain balance.  I have lived 43 years of life and plan on living at least 42 more.  That means that I am halfway there.  I will not be a world adventurer, I will not live wealthy, I will not be in newspapers and magazines, I will not live a particularly healthy life, I will not have dozens and dozens of people at my funeral, and I will not die a martyr.  But, I will have lived a life that I am pleased with, a life I feel was lived and lived well, a life I will be proud of, and when it is time for me to leave this world, I will be ready to move on to new adventures knowing that this life lived here on earth was one Kick Ass Adventure!

By the way, if you are planning on attending my funeral 40-some-odd years from now, don't be shocked when my children play "Highway To Hell" by ACDC at my funeral.  It is a family joke and they Absolutely plan on playing that song at my funeral.  When you hear it, just laugh and enjoy.  Let me share a little secret with you... I plan on going to a better place ;o)

Copyright © 2012 Life's Casual Observer blog, Lauren Espinoza

And so it begins... Casual Observations of Life

This blog is dedicated to my Grandmother, Gamma (Jane Menefee Schutt).  One thing she taught me early in life is the importance of being a casual observer.  She sent a wonderful book to me because she noticed that I was a Casual Observer.  Along with the book came an amazing flowered bonnet much like the little girl in the book.  I wore that thing like crazy wandering around outside being the best casual observer of nature as I could be.  I spent the next 33 years being life's casual observer.

As a Casual Observer, I have maintained my image as a loner in school, a wall flower in social situations, a quiet thinker instead of a social butterfly.  I have been an introvert all my life and fought the image that introverts are weak, undesirable, and no fun!  Not true!!!  I am Strong, Desirable, and Fun when and if you take the time to get to know the real me... The me that is hiding quietly behind the wall observing the rest of the world... the me that is lovable, free spirited, open minded, giving, caring, spiritual, and so much more.

I recently read an intriguing article about the power of introversion in Time Magazine:  "The Upside Of Being An Introvert (And Why Extroverts Are Overrated)  By Bryan Walsh Monday, Feb. 06, 2012".  I highly recommend this article to all Introverts and extroverts alike.  It definitely gives a different take on the image of both and why being an introvert is a powerful thing.  I have been an introvert, to the extreme, all my life.  I was the wall flower, the loner, the social misfit. I am incredibly uncomfortable in social situations.  I avoid social gatherings unless I know there is at least one other person I can cling to, follow around, and talk to.  I have to say though, that being an educator has definitely cured a great deal of my introversion when I am around kids.  I feel 100% comfortable talking to an auditorium full of students.  I am absolutely at home in a classroom teaching.  When it comes to being an educator... I am at home and an extrovert.


What I have learned during my many casual observations of life is that Living life "out loud" doesn't require a person who is the life of the party.  Living Life "out loud" requires taking off your blinders, opening your eyes and heart, and allowing your senses to experience everything life throws at you.  Introversion is a blessing and my Grandmother knew that.  She passed on the most important thing I have learned in life: Being a Casual Observer of life is a strength, a benefit, a blessing.  

I will continue my work as Life's Casual Observer... not for anyone else but myself.  I am on a journey, an adventure.  I am not seeking answers or trying to find myself.  I know who I am, I know what I want from life, I know where I am going.  I am on a journey of observing life at it's best and at it's worst.  I am in search of nothing more than seeing life with blinders off, eyes wide open, heart and mind waiting to learn all that I can.  I will share my observations along the way and I truly hope you learn something from these observations, after all, I am an educator.

Copyright © 2012 Life's Casual Observer blog, Lauren Espinoza