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Memories From The Pond

Half Bill –Part One

It was with great joy many years ago that we found a home with a pond in the backyard.  As time passed, we came to enjoy it more and more especially when the waterfowl started showing up in our pond.  It was something that gave us twenty years of loving our visitors to the pond.

It was a beautiful September with the sun warm and many flowers still in bloom in our flower garden.  My wife and I were pruning the roses, putting some fall plants in the ground, and shepherd hooks to keep a bit of color in the garden.  We were already getting Baltimore Orioles visiting our bird feeders and we were waiting in anticipation for more seasonal birds to come and winter with us.

In the distance, we saw and heard the ducks coming and saw several groups coming closer.  They dropped lower in the sky and the first formation circled the pond several times.  With each flyby, several made a feet first landing skidding across the water as they landed.  It didn’t take long for our pond to be filled with quacking ducks.  One by one they came to our fence and introduced themselves to my wife and me.

My wife ran to the garage to get some birdseed for them to eat.  I was watching as they gathered near the fence quacking and running up and down the fence line waiting to be fed.  One smaller duck pushed his way through the flock and stood in front of me.  It was a smaller duck, but he was feisty and standing his ground.  I noticed that the top half of his bill was missing.  My wife threw some bird food out to him, and he seemed not to have any problems eating the food.

They settled in and became a big part of our life for years to come.  Half bill became family to us, entertaining us and inspiring us with his courage and good nature.  He would come running each time we opened the door or worked in the garden.  He became our dear friend for many years and was always part of our morning rituals.

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Larry Tyler
Larry Tyler
Awaken the possibilities … then unleash them. After 55 years of successful retail management, I have returned to my passion of writing. I write Poetry, Storytelling, and Short Stories. As a child, I grew up on front porch storytelling. I would sit and listen to my Dad and his brothers tell these great stories that were captivating, and I always wanted to hear more. I wanted to experience the things they talked about. I started writing at a young age and reading everything I could get my hands on. At twelve years old I started a storytelling group and several of my friends became writers or poets. At 16 I hopped box cars and worked the tobacco fields, orange groves, picked cotton, and spent many nights around a campfire listing to life stories. Someone once asked me why I wrote. It consumes an amazing amount of time and I assure you it is not going to make me rich. I write so that my children can touch and feel my words telling of the ones that came before us and the stories they told me. These are the chronicles of our family and even though they come from my childhood memories and are deeply rooted in a child’s remembrance at least they may feel what it was like in the time before them and cherish the things the elders left behind. I am a Columnist & Featured Contributor, BIZCATALYST360 and I have The Writers Café, a group on LinkedIn that features Poets, Writers, Artists, Photographers, and Musicians . On Facebook I have two groups and one page; Dirt Road Storytelling, From Abandoned To Rescue Dogs And Cats, and About Life, Love And Living. As writers, it is true that we honestly do not know what we hold within us until we unleash it. When our words inspire others only then will inspiration return to the writer. I will spend my twilight years in search of the next story, the next poem, and the next image. I will take the time to enjoy my Wife, our Dogs, and Cats, and our amazing new home and I will always find the time to walk down a dirt road I truly hope is that I never have to read another book on Leadership, be on a conference call or see another plan o gram as these were the tool for what I did in life and not about who I am.

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