Our family's life in New Zealand
Little Henry is thriving in the house. He loves attention; if he feels neglected he starts fussing till someone picks him up. The last couple of days, he’s been able to jump out of his box occasionally; this may mean banishment from the house. I don’t relish the idea of a duck on the loose in the house, not even a cute little one. He still makes messes. He would get stepped on, too. He loves to sit on shoulders and nibble on clothing, cheeks, necks, and ears.
We have a new baby in our house. He showed up Monday evening, in the hands of the girlfriend of a young man Gayle works with. They had been out walking, and found a tiny duckling running along the street, alone. They knew it wouldn’t live without help, and thought of our boys. We named the little fellow Henry, after a duckling in a picture book we have (Henrietta if he turns out to be female). Henry is the tiniest duckling I’ve ever seen; we’re wondering what kind of duck he is. We’ll have to wait awhile to find out! For now, Henry resides in a box in the corner of the kitchen, under a lightbulb, with a jar lid full of water and another with feed. He gets lots of holding, and I have a feeling that by and by he’ll forget he’s a duck! The first morning he was here, I was reading my Bible in the easy chair next to his box, and he was very quiet–until our flock of of ducks went by the house, quacking. He immediately started calling them!
