I do as I am told:
Anatidaephobia: The fear that somewhere in the world a duck is watching you.
Mary may have had a little snowy white lamb, but I have a creamy white duckling who follows me EVERYWHERE. This is unexpected. Charming. And a little troubling. There is a full update here.
I have to get some work done, as you can imagine, there have been many distractions today.
I’ll do my best to use the incredible cuteness only for good and keep us all distracted.
Open thread
scuffletuffle
Duck is adorable…that is all!
khead
I’m amazed at the number of folks (and media – especially right leaning media) who are too stupid to realize that AOC was making a joke (and a point) about her garbage disposal. The woman has MAD social media skillz.
germy
TaMara (HFG)
@germy: That is good news!
germy
@TaMara (HFG):
rikyrah
I love this picture ❤️
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor pic.twitter.com/PieZ6sNa2U
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) May 8, 2019
VeniceRiley
Awww I want a duck. Oh, and welcome to Earth, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. What a name! Is it Archie or actually Archibald? Will folks call him Archie Harry?
MelissaM
I love her creamy color. I suppose she’ll lose that and go all white with orange beak. How do you train a duck to leave you and follow the ducks??
Dorothy A. Winsor
Do you read Louise Penny? She writes great mysteries set in Three Pines, Quebec. Her dotty old lady character, Ruth, has a pet duck named Rosa.
TaMara (HFG)
@MelissaM: I have no freakin’ idea. LOL
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Just what are you saying here? ;-)
MelissaM
@rikyrah: While I like the nickname Archie, using it as a given name, plus the hyphen surname, leaves me thinking he’ll be a rich, pampered kid who doesn’t wear socks with his shoes and far surpasses his father’s partying abiility.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@TaMara (HFG): Dotty old ladies are great! I have one in The Wind Reader. Mr DAW rolls his eyes and says “write what you know.”
ETA: Also Ruth is a world class poet. Maybe that’s the comparison I’m after here!
Bex
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I was just about to type that! Forgot the duck’s name, though. Thanks.
schrodingers_cat
The name Mountbatten doesn’t bring up fond memories. He is like the British Paul Bremer (one of the Bush appointees) that failed spectacularly in Iraq.
jeffreyw
Fix me a sammich.
catclub
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Ruth isn’t dotty. She might pretend to be. Ruth is a hardass.
Ohio Mom
@khead: I dunno. I grew up in Thr Bronx and Queens and never saw a garbage disposal until I moved to the Midwest. Maybe the sewers in NYC have enough to do without all that extra sludge?
I’m still not sold on their utility. Just another thing that breaks and makes you call the plumber (who got a chuckle out of the time Ohio Dad tried to do it himself. Though he quickly assured me he had been called to fix many worse husband jobs over the years. I bet he says that to everyone).
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@MelissaM: @VeniceRiley: @rikyrah:
Awww. Adorable pic, dreadful name. Although if they have a daughter, they can call her Mehitabel.
J R in WV
I had a Great-Uncle Archie, a nickname from an old comic of the ’30s and ’40s. He made wine in his basement, long before that was cool, and was a photographer, and had rained basset hounds. I think his real name was Elmer, but am not sure.
He retired early with heart trouble, but then lived into his mid-80s… worked at a duPont plant, and left some scary interesting chemistry in his garden shed, right in town. Oops! A favorite of mine…
Orange is the New Red
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Just finished The Wind Reader. Thank you. Passed it on to my favorite middle schooler.
scuffletuffle
@J R in WV: I would love a shower of Bassets right now!!
Miss Bianca
I think that is really the cutest duck I have ever seen.
Miss Bianca
@J R in WV:
Why, we had a basset hound named Elmer when I was a wee tad!
Oh, wait, you meant your great-uncle? Oops.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Orange is the New Red: You rock!
Dan B
Speaking of Fallwell and “followers” he, wife, and poolboy they “befriended” in Miami, and then loaned $1.8 million….”loaned”. Michael Cohen has a picture. That and the Graham boys, Franklin and Lindsay, could make a good start on Leviticus Illustrated.
Thanks to a commenter on Juanita Jean’s.
And National Enquirer could finish the book.
Amir Khalid
@schrodingers_cat:
There used to be a Mountbatten Road in Kuala Lumpur. It was renamed in the 1970s after Tun Perak, a governmemt official in the 14th century Melaka sultanate.
debbie
@TaMara (HFG):
Agreed. Let’s see how these tough guys roll.
Does your duck get in and out of that crate unaided? And did you ever build a duck ramp?
Mary Ellen Sandahl
@J R in WV: Raining basset hounds is a lost art these days. Today you’re always running into problems with the Westminster Kennel Club buttinskis and the local water authorities.
BTW, Tamara, you would anjoy reading the works of Konrad Lorenz , who discovered the “imprinting” instinct in ducklings. You’re seeing something similar with your duckbaby. You’re her mom now, and young waterfowl have to stay close with their mothers to have a chance of survival. Lorenz’ “Man Meets Dog” and “King Solomon’s Ring” are both great.
EL
Pics can be faked (although why anyone would fake a duck pic is beyond me.) You must prove it to us with video!!
Obviously I’ll use any subterfuge to make sure my cuteness quota gets filled.