Duckling math
Back story:
There are ducks in the ponds at our apartment complex. The ducks produce ducklings. This is my favorite thing about the new apartment complex.
There was a batch/litter/clutch/family/flotilla of ducklings that was half grown when we moved in. They are grown now and the boys are starting to get the green head feathers of adult males (And they look ridiculous in the process. They've got clumpy brown and green heads).
Then, a few weeks ago, a new batch of 4 little ducklings appeared and I have been watching them ever since. I see them almost every time I walk past the large pond on my way to the gym or the laundry room. This makes me happy:)
Story:
Today when I went to the gym, I only saw three ducklings. Sometimes one of them will wonder away from the group but usually I can find it fairly near by if I stand and look for a minute, so I sort of wondered about this.
Just now when I went to the laundry room, there were still only three ducklings and I started to worry. Did something eat number 4? Is it lost/hurt/stuck somewhere? If one of the ducklings were injured or stuck somewhere, I would sort of expect the mother duck to be there, having a mama duck fit, so things didn't seem to look good for the missing duckling, to me.
But, being me and totally unable to bear the idea of a cute animal in distress without doing something about it, I went looking for the missing duckling, just in case it was lost/hurt/stuck somewhere and there was something I could do to help. Thinking all the while that I was risking finding a sad, bedraggled dead duckling and making myself all sad. But I still had to LOOK.
I did not find a dead duckling to make me sad. Or a lost/hurt/stuck duckling to rescue. What I did find was a second family of ducklings in the smaller pond! This one with four ducklings.
Now I'm all confused. Which family have I been seeing in the big pond? Or have I been seeing both and not knowing the difference? Why have I never seen both families at once? Is there a missing duckling or isn't there?
There are ducks in the ponds at our apartment complex. The ducks produce ducklings. This is my favorite thing about the new apartment complex.
There was a batch/litter/clutch/family/flotilla of ducklings that was half grown when we moved in. They are grown now and the boys are starting to get the green head feathers of adult males (And they look ridiculous in the process. They've got clumpy brown and green heads).
Then, a few weeks ago, a new batch of 4 little ducklings appeared and I have been watching them ever since. I see them almost every time I walk past the large pond on my way to the gym or the laundry room. This makes me happy:)
Story:
Today when I went to the gym, I only saw three ducklings. Sometimes one of them will wonder away from the group but usually I can find it fairly near by if I stand and look for a minute, so I sort of wondered about this.
Just now when I went to the laundry room, there were still only three ducklings and I started to worry. Did something eat number 4? Is it lost/hurt/stuck somewhere? If one of the ducklings were injured or stuck somewhere, I would sort of expect the mother duck to be there, having a mama duck fit, so things didn't seem to look good for the missing duckling, to me.
But, being me and totally unable to bear the idea of a cute animal in distress without doing something about it, I went looking for the missing duckling, just in case it was lost/hurt/stuck somewhere and there was something I could do to help. Thinking all the while that I was risking finding a sad, bedraggled dead duckling and making myself all sad. But I still had to LOOK.
I did not find a dead duckling to make me sad. Or a lost/hurt/stuck duckling to rescue. What I did find was a second family of ducklings in the smaller pond! This one with four ducklings.
Now I'm all confused. Which family have I been seeing in the big pond? Or have I been seeing both and not knowing the difference? Why have I never seen both families at once? Is there a missing duckling or isn't there?