ohbloodyhell8

Next to my local 7-11 is a lake with beautiful ducks and, until quite recently, two beautiful swans.  Sadly, one day I saw one of the swans just standing in the middle of the parking lot.  Later that day I say the swan standing in the middle of the road.  I didn’t worry too much.  The folks around here are usually patient with the flock of wild turkeys (the fowl, not the booze) as they cross the streets, so I figured the swan would be okay.  I mean, a swan is even more majestic than a turkey, right?

Wrong.  I saw the swan lying on the ground, with its beautiful long neck just twisted in a way it shouldn’t have been.  I am pleased to write that animal control took care of the remains very swiftly as the body was not there when I returned home by that road an hour or so later.

Each day since I have gazed at the remaining swan.  From my humble brain, I recalled that swans supposedly mate for life and a quick internet search confirmed that they usually do.  The article said they may break up if the family doesn’t grow as planned, but it said nothing about remarriage after being widowed.

As you may have figured out, faithful reader, I read too much into toys, inanimate objects, and animals.  I have decided that the female is still alive and that she is mourning her hubby.  She sits at the edge of the lake, right next to the 7-11 parking lot, and looks sad.  She looks lonely.  The other ducks and geese try to cheer her up but she seemingly wants no part of it.

I wonder if some day a widower swan will swoop down to the 7-11 lake and woo her?  Or will she become the mother hen to all the other ducks and geese?  I truly hope that she learned the valuable lesson that her mate learned the hard way and not stand in the middle of the road or the 7-11 parking lot.

Perhaps in the spring she’ll seem happier.

And I did wonder, did he in fact sing a swan song as he lay there dying?  Did she hear it?