Ducks

So, I’ve got these ducks. Right? Well, they’re really not mine… but they come into my yard enough that it would be fair to claim that I’m entitled to decapitate one of them and make caldo de pato…or duck stew. Not like I’d get around to doing that, though. Caldo de pato isn’t the highest recommended dish there is around here.

Anyways, every morning that I wake up, and don’t go to work at the observatory, I’ll find them waddling around my backyard looking for water. Now, I have to sources of water that these little guys are looking for, and neither of them would be considered very…ideal, at least for myself. One of them is my pila. It’s my sink, drying rack, washing machine, and water depository. It drains right below itself via holes located in the two sinks on the side of the depository, and the water (carrying bits of food, dish soap, dirt, and soap for my clothes) washes down this little aqueduct lined by red bricks into this little pool (ditch) where the water soaks into the ground. The little suckers aprovechan (take advantage) to the max, Adam’s sweaty, soapy, foody water and all, all the way from the drain to the little ditch. Caldo anyone?

The other place these guys like to catch a dip is right next to my latrine. Wait, it’s not that bad, really. My latrine goes way down deep. But right next to it is this old poncho that the previous tenants left on the ground, and I’ve just been too lazy to throw it out. That, and throwing it away would just mean it would find its way to the local river. So, after it rains, the water puddles up in it, making a perfect little water hole. It’s always a little surprise to have this mara (gang) of ducklings show up next to me while I’m sitting on the, until recently, most comfortable seat that I’ve got. Part of their little water pond goes under the aluminum siding, so I get the say “Buenas Días” to their nosy little faces.

And they always travel around with their mother, following up back. I assume it’s their mother, because, if they’re Guatemalan ducks, which I am sure they are, it’s the mother who looks after the young ones. She keeps a good eye on her young, and I think she finally trusts me, allowing them to get close to me. Until one day when I change my mind and try to figure out how to make a nice caldo.
Later, I’ll have to tell you about these two chicks that like to try to sneak into my house.