great blue.

I really enjoyed my work-related trips to Detroit. Not because I particularly liked Detroit. I didn't even spend much time in the city itself, but it seemed a bit scary. I spent most of the time in the suburbs and a little bit in the countryside. I decided very quickly that I liked Michigan, mostly because of the birds. There is so much water in Michigan - lakes and ponds and little ditches with cattails growing around them. Then there were water birds everywhere. In North Carolina, you see a lot of geese and ducks on ponds. In Michigan, you see egrets in the ditches. That makes them sound like they've run on hard times, but I prefer to think that they were just stopping at a watering hole.

Just because ducks are commonplace doesn't mean that I am not fascinated by them. I don't think I'll ever get too old for the joy that comes from tearing off pieces of sandwich bread and tossing them to a set of quackers. Ducks are sweet and charming in their quacking, waddling simplicity. Egrets and herons are something else entirely. Tall and graceful, they know their business, and they demand respectful quiet. Once when I was a kid, I saw a great blue heron in our creek. I was just coming down the enbankment when it took off from the water. I didn't know what it was, only that it was massive and blue. Its wingspan was longer than I was tall. That memory has stuck with me for a long time, as a moment when I happened to be in the right place at the right time and caught a glimpse of something secret and wonderful.

Later I went to Michigan, where magnificent birds hang out in the ditches on the side of the road.

There is a pond across the street from my new house. There are ducks living there, and sometimes in the mornings, I can hear geese calling to each other as they splash down. I'm hopeful that I will see ducklings and goslings in the spring. Monday morning, I was pulling out of the driveway to go to work when I saw it - a heron, perched on a log in the middle of the pond. I don't want to hope that its visit was anything more than just a brief rest at my little pond, a layover on its long flight north. Even so, I was happy to be in the right place at the right time to get another glimpse of something secret and wonderful.