friends in the back yard

Today it is gloomy and raining. The temps are in the high 30's so the rain is that fun kind of rain. You know, the kind of rain that sucks the will to stay outside right out of you. Fred gets to the door and tells me that he can wait till it stops raining. Bob doesn't care. If I'm outside , he wants to be outside. The rain does seem to bring mallards into the yard. There is a pond that rarely freezes over about 100 yards from our house where the mallards have homesteaded. Pat and I have provided food for the mallards for the last 7 years. The various generations are used to Pat and me as long as we do not get too close. Bob seems oblivious to the them. There must not be any ducks-are-food DNA in Bob. Fred wants to chase anything that walks into the yard, so when the ducks come into the yard, we take Fred inside. Today, the ducks came into the yard in 3 different family groups. I snuck the pictures through a gap in the sun room door. No matter how gloomy it is outside, there is always beauty to be found.

These guys are probably saying: "Hey, they're just taking pictures. Well, more food for us."

The background noise is rain. You can also hear the ducks talking to each other.