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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Duck Blogging / Monday Evening Respite Open Thread

Monday Evening Respite Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  September 14, 20205:19 pm| 76 Comments

This post is in: Duck Blogging, Nature & Respite

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From what little I know of ducks, they’re also an ‘organic replacment’ for chemical fertilizers…

Farmers in Thailand are seen herding hundreds of ducks between rice fields. The ducks root out weeds, guard against pests in rice paddy fields and act as an organic replacement for pesticides pic.twitter.com/cJwV4Glm4a

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 11, 2020

Speaking of which, props for carrying that ‘poop pad’, Duck Companion!

My Pet Duck. Only in New York. pic.twitter.com/MdiN9QgrPg

— gregarious (@mistergeezy) September 11, 2020

(h/t commentor Sister Golden Bear)
.

Bonus musical accompaniment:

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Reader Interactions

76Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 14, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    Ping!

  2. 2.

    RedDirtGirl

    September 14, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    Open thread? The Biden/Harris campaign is having an event tonight with Kamala, Hillary, and their SNL doppelgängers. 6pm Eastern time. Could be the uplift I need today.

  3. 3.

    John Revolta

    September 14, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    Shower cap but no mask?
    Up your game, duck lady.

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    September 14, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    This weekend my sister treated my brother and me to a “pandemic breakfast.” She and my brother live in Texas and I’m in California, so she got our orders, contacted appropriate eateries and had the meals delivered. To be double safe, I asked that my delivery be left outside my door.

    Everything got delivered okay and we had a brief video chat afterwards.

    A bit crazy, but a fun respite.

  5. 5.

    pb503

    September 14, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    Only need only one author Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache story to know how important & perceptive ducks are, especially when they’re companions to poets.

  6. 6.

    TaMara (HFG)

    September 14, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    OMG, Anne Laurie, where’s the love – all this duck awesomeness and you didn’t alert me! LOL I’m here for it.

    What I know about ducks and bugs – I have no grasshoppers in my backyard (front yard another story) and I’ve seen them catch flies out of the air with ease.

    As for fertilizer – let’s just say, they earn their keep.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    September 14, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    Ducks. Is there anything they can’t do?

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 14, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I sent a donation a couple of days ago, and will be watching. Hope the timing is such that I can also watch the Vindman interview on NBC.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    September 14, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I hope the SNL peeps go all “anger translator,” especially for Hillary.

  10. 10.

    Benw

    September 14, 2020 at 5:45 pm

    I’ve always wanted some quail (they eat ticks). Maybe I should get some ducks

  11. 11.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    I’m doing up two giant redfish filets that I’ve had in the freezer for almost a year. You can find things that say fish won’t last more than a couple of months and you can find things that says they’ll be fine as long as they are frozen. They are so big I didn’t want to thaw them for just the two of us but I’ve waited long enough. Redfish on the half shell!

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    September 14, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    May not seem so but the payoff is topical.

    :)

  13. 13.

    TaMara (HFG)

    September 14, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): Oh, and they make duck (and chicken) diapers – for decades – because they are often used in entertainment and as therapy quackers.

  14. 14.

    LuciaMia

    September 14, 2020 at 6:01 pm

    The ducks dont eat the rice plants?

  15. 15.

    oatler.

    September 14, 2020 at 6:02 pm

    Enough with the “medieval covers” gimmick. It worked for Dread Zeppelin doing reggae covers  of Zep songs, then it didn’t.  I prefer Gryphon’s 1972 lp which has a genuine “cover” of a song written by Henry XIII.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    September 14, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    @TaMara (HFG)

    Take a break by sitting in front of a fan with them for breeze and quackers.

    :)

  17. 17.

    Anotherlurker

    September 14, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    @raven: Bon appetite!  I have had great preservative success with vacuum sealing Golden Tilefish and Yellowfin Tuna steaks and filets. Do it right and 1 year frozen is no problem.

  18. 18.

    prostratedragon

    September 14, 2020 at 6:10 pm

    Back in an earlier millennium when Chicago had things like streetcorner newsstands, there was a man at the one on Randolph St. just outside the main public library who had a pet duck. He and that duck –I like to think it was the same one– were mainstays for years, in any kind of weather. At the end of the evening rush I’d see them elsewhere downtown making their way home, wherever that was. He looked just a step or two above homelessness, but if he owned that stand he was probably fairly comfortable. There were a few news articles and local tv spots about them over the years.

  19. 19.

    RedDirtGirl

    September 14, 2020 at 6:10 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: 
    They are not letting me sign in!!!!!

  20. 20.

    Scuffletuffle

    September 14, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    I hear that everytime I buy out all the bluefish at the fish market. I just laugh and say “Don’t worry, it won’t last that long.”

  21. 21.

    prostratedragon

    September 14, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    How about balalaika covers?

    “Caravan,” Ellington and Tizol, played by Russian Renaissance

  22. 22.

    RedDirtGirl

    September 14, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    @Baud: If I can’t view it I will need my own anger translator!

  23. 23.

    LuciaMia

    September 14, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    @Scuffletuffle: Yum, bluefish. Lot of people think its too oily/heavy but I love them.

  24. 24.

    dmsilev

    September 14, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    @Baud:

    Ducks. Is there anything they can’t do?

    I’ve never seen one that was any good at all at solving partial differential equations. And I certainly wouldn’t trust them to run a lathe.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 14, 2020 at 6:21 pm

    @raven:

    Redfish on the half shell! 

    Turtle Redfish power!

  26. 26.

    kindness

    September 14, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    That Mideval Macarena…..why am I hearing the melody of Walk Like An Egyptian in it?  Hey Oh Way Oh…

  27. 27.

    RedDirtGirl

    September 14, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Whew! I got in!

  28. 28.

    Miss Bianca

    September 14, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    @dmsilev: OK, but *aside* from that…

  29. 29.

    Phylllis

    September 14, 2020 at 6:39 pm

    This seems right up the alley of some folks here–free program discussing Pat Conroy’s experiences as a teacher and his respect for teachers.

  30. 30.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 6:46 pm

    @Anotherlurker: Yep, the guide we went with vacuumed these. I talked to my buddies and they both had one piece of yellowfin from last year and they were fine too!

  31. 31.

    Emma from FL

    September 14, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    If any of the photo mavens among us has a minute could you recommend a photo editing software that does not have a hugely steep learning curve and doesn’t require me to fork over my firstborn, if I had one, to Adobe? Thanks!

  32. 32.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    @Scuffletuffle: Bluefish right out of the water a couple weeks back. They really frown on them on the gulf coast.

  33. 33.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Here it was!

  34. 34.

    Jay

    September 14, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    This is Beau. A bug just flew in his mouth. Not gonna let it ruin his car ride though. 12/10 objects in mirror are even cuter than they appear pic.twitter.com/c8VWfBTSOw— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) September 14, 2020

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    September 14, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    Dutiful Ducks

    dutiful
    the drano ducks collide
    and mercy
    gather-collide-like
    fancy tension
    pow-wow
    dutiful dutiful ducks
    than double Elly
    Macy
    treetops pray
    the signal
    hay in May
    says
    dutiful
    —
    dutiful
    ducks
    —
    dutiful
    —
    dutiful
    dutiful
    ducks

    –Charles Amirkhanian

  36. 36.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    @Phylllis:  Our local OLLI had a two hour session with the director, Jonathon Haupt, of the center last week. I once wrote Pat a letter and he wrote me back!

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    September 14, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    @Baud:

    Ducks. Is there anything they can’t do?

    Simultaneous translation of English into Yiddish.

  38. 38.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    @Baud: Play football.

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    September 14, 2020 at 7:05 pm

    @Emma from FL:

    Photoshop Elements is one of the few Adobe products one can buy, not lease, and can occasionally be had on sale for $70. The kid finds it relatively easy to use. I mostly use Lightroom but am on LR6, the last version that was available for purchase. Still use Photoshop for heavy lifting but rarely–it’s overkill for general editing and doesn’t have a photo library data base.

    For free, the Google editing suite can handle simple treatments and cropping, etc.

    Capture One is popular among photogs but I have no experience with it. Looks powerful and there are modules aplenty.

    Most cameras come with that maker’s editing tools. Some of these are really sucky to use but the price is right.

    Good luck!

  40. 40.

    raven

    September 14, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    @trollhattan: I had that version and, when I upgraded my work account, they stoled it from me!

  41. 41.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 14, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    @Baud: The Macarena!

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    September 14, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @Emma from FL:

    I’m not sure if there is worthwhile photo editing software that doesn’t have a pretty steep learning curve.  If you want one that doesn’t cost your firstborn, you can always go with The GIMP.

  43. 43.

    Chris Johnson

    September 14, 2020 at 7:13 pm

    @Emma from FL: I think Affinity Photo’s pretty good :)

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 14, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    Those of you are being naysayers about ducks, are these things that they cannot do or merely things that they chosen not to do?

  45. 45.

    Baud

    September 14, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    Thanks all.  Ducks clearly are not all that they’ve been billed as.

  46. 46.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    September 14, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    @Baud:

    ?❗

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    September 14, 2020 at 7:32 pm

    Who’s up for setting off a string of firecrackers outside of Michael Caputo’s place tonight?

    Or at least leaving a SorosCheck stub lying around on his sidewalk?

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 14, 2020 at 7:32 pm

    @Brachiator:

    That’s a great idea! My younger twin sister and brother are turning 75 in a few weeks, and I’ve been fretting over what I can get them. Steve lives in Prescott, AZ, and Joyce is in Aurora, CO, so there’s nothing I can do for them in person. But treating them each to a great birthday meal is a fine thought! Thanks for the suggestion.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    September 14, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:   WRT ducks:  That is, I believe, the question.

    Also:  for us Princess Bride reading fans:  maybe you all saw this before, but I just did. CNN: ‘The Princess Bride’ had a prescient line about mask wearing

    It did, and its principals got into politics with CNN, too.

    [Ted] Cruz last week called The Princess Bride “perfect” and said he wishes it would stay out of “Hollywood politics.”

    Elwes responded that Cruz should “leave the fire swamp.”

    “Ted Cruz represents, in my humble opinion, the whole fire swamp of Washington,” Elwes told CNN Saturday. “In private they share their dismay at the man [Donald Trump], but in public they support everything he does, no matter how insane.”

    Reiner said the country is more divided than it’s ever been and in a 21st century version of a civil war.

    “This is a battle for the soul of the nation,” he told CNN. “We’re in a civil war. There’s no question about it. The only difference is instead of Abraham Lincoln in the White House, we have Jefferson Davis in the White House,” referring to the president of the Confederacy.

    Honestly. Jefferson Davis, much as I deplore him, had a lot more going for him than Trump. JD never completed a political term to which he had been elected/selected.

    Regrettably, it appears der Trump might, but we must hold him to one stolen term. No more.

    A tweet Cary Elwes sent out in July:

    Hello. My name is Coronavirus. You don’t want to wear a mask? Prepare to die.

  50. 50.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 14, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I had that problem, too, but it eventually resolved. Hope it did for you as well.

  51. 51.

    germy

    September 14, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    New season of Jeopardy tonight.

    Contestants are not as close together.   Trebek is keeping his distance during the introductory chat

    No studio audience.

  52. 52.

    Searcher

    September 14, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): We had a moment of sadness when two seconds after my four year old daughter noticed a butterfly, one of the chickens did.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 14, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @Baud:

    Ducks clearly are not all that they’ve been billed as.

    Get down!

  54. 54.

    Elizabelle

    September 14, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @Jeffro:   I am surprised that Caputo has not gone on medical leave.

    How could any other government or business figure — not in TrumpWorld — survive a story like the NY Times’?

    Maybe he has, and TrumpWorld is just not giving its critics the satisfaction of knowing so.

    Caputo needs mental health treatment.  His values and judgement absolutely suck, but now he is going paranoid bonkers, too.

  55. 55.

    Phylllis

    September 14, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    @raven: I’ve got a signed copy of The Boo around here somewhere; Conroy used to do impromptu book signings at Bay Street Trading in Beaufort once or twice a year. Just happened to be in town on a day when he was there.

  56. 56.

    H-Bob

    September 14, 2020 at 7:47 pm

    @Baud: Ducks clearly are not all that they’ve been quacked up to be!

  57. 57.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 14, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    @raven: That Dawgs travel tumbler looks delicious.

  58. 58.

    Ken

    September 14, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    @Elizabelle: It’s not paranoia when you have worked for Putin and might be considered a liability.

  59. 59.

    Aleta

    September 14, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    @H-Bob: They do excel at wisequacking.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 14, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Get down you say?

  61. 61.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 14, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    Respite because you can point and laugh.

    Y'all pray for Michigan and Louisiana, which are about to be simultaneously hit hit by Hurricane Sally, per Fox News. ? https://t.co/4KhUqeGib4 pic.twitter.com/PDTHpvOyCL— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) September 14, 2020

  62. 62.

    Scuffletuffle

    September 14, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @raven: Oh dear God, I just swooned!

  63. 63.

    logjam

    September 14, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @Emma from FL:  For everyday cropping, resizing and basic color work that’s rually easy to use and rually free try Photoscape. I’ve been using it for 15 years. Has some interesting features. Perfect for me. For more advanced stuff I use Polarr. Fab program which is also free.

  64. 64.

    catclub

    September 14, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @Roger Moore: have a pretty steep learning curve.

     

    my inner pedant says that a steep learning curve rapidly gets you to mastery of the subject.  while a long learning curve takes a lot of work and study.

     

    The world does not agree with me.

  65. 65.

    scav

    September 14, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Buy Sharpies stock ASAP!!

  66. 66.

    dnfree

    September 14, 2020 at 9:59 pm

    @trollhattan:

     

    @Emma from FL: I don’t know if it’s still available anywhere, but the desktop version of Picasa was great.  Google bought it and it was still great, and it had “I feel lucky” just like Google used to have.  You just clicked on it and it fixed a bunch of things–color, contrast, whatever.  Or you could do your own, but I liked “I feel lucky”.  Suddenly a few years ago Google just up and killed it.  I still have it on one of my computers.

  67. 67.

    dnfree

    September 14, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): Has anyone alerted you to this duck-related article yet?  (I think I got it from the Bloomberg newsletter.)

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/11/metro/canada-geese-esplanade-adopted-wayward-white-duck-now-theyre-all-best-friends/

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    September 14, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @Emma from FL: Agreed with the commenter above that Picasa is handy, if you can find it somewhere.

    Something else that might be worth playing with, and is free, and is well supported, is Fiji (“Fiji Is ImageJ”)

    It can do things like “Enhance Local Contrast” – https://imagej.net/Enhance_Local_Contrast_(CLAHE) (scroll down)

    It’s extremely powerful, but has many one-button type things as well.

    https://imagej.net/Fiji

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    Felanius Kootea

    September 14, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: There is a muppets cover of jungle boogie?  Whoo-hoo get down, get down.

  70. 70.

    TaMara (HFG)

    September 14, 2020 at 11:30 pm

    @dnfree: Bummer, it won’t let me read the article. But Canada geese are amazing, they’ll adopt about any waterfowl. Meanwhile, ducks will just about kill any waterfowl.

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    September 15, 2020 at 1:32 am

    @Emma from FL

    If al you need are basic photo editing tools, things such as:

    Cropping
    Resizing
    FSharpeniong or Contrast adjustgmen t
    Brightneszs controls
    Orientation changing
    Color swapping or enhancement or convert to grauscal
    Adding text
    Saving the file in any of a variety of file types

    then the always free Irfanview will do the trick, with practically no learning curve. There’s also a free pack of additional filter plug-ins which can be downloaded . Been using Irfanview to great satisfaction for more than 20 years.

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    September 15, 2020 at 2:23 am

    @NotMax

    Good gravy. So drained from big monthly shopping day that can barely make fingers work. Should read:

    Sharpening or Contrast adjustment

  73. 73.

    The Lodger

    September 15, 2020 at 2:41 am

    @NotMax: Looks like you activated the Spell Czech.

  74. 74.

    NotMax

    September 15, 2020 at 3:02 am

    @The Lodger

    Sigh. Also should read:

    grayscale, not grauscal.

    So beat that just managed to muster enough energy to unpack and put away the frozen and refrigerated purchases. All else will have to wait until post-nap time.

  75. 75.

    Felicia Brown

    September 15, 2020 at 11:01 am

    Thank you for sharing these! Since April, I’ve spent a lot of time with ducks – rubber ducks though. My husband (BTW he LOVES this blog and has been reading daily for years) and I have been racing our flock in the creek behind our house in what we now call the Impromptu Rubber Duck Regatta (IRDR). This has led to a lot a lot of joy and laughter as well as writing a story – Quacking Up – about how the ducks helped me overcome deep anxiety during the pandemic. It comes out in a book out next month. If you do another post on ducks, the IRDR would love to be in it:-)

  76. 76.

    Felicia Brown

    September 15, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @pb503: I haven’t ready any in this series. Is the duck in all of them?

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