"It looks like the duck is going to survive," Linda says while eating lunch. "That's nice," I repeat while I chew my sandwich and read a book. Unfortunately, we don't often eat lunch together due to schedule conflicts, and even when we do, it is generally in silence as each of us stares at our phones. I hate that we don't have deep, meaningful conversations during our time together; however, as the meaning of her words penetrates through the book I'm reading, I reach up and turn off the application.
"What duck?" I ask. The conversation may not be profound, but the story will be interesting whenever animals are involved with my beautiful wife. Linda has what I refer to as a "healer's heart." I'm pretty sure those are not my words but something I picked up on a blog or a meme somewhere that identifies and defines her desire to heal all things broken. It not only describes her desire to heal but goes beyond to convince one why broken animals (and people) are attracted to her healing powers.
I've witnessed it for years and marveled at its effect on living things around me. I'm not an animal person. Growing up, I had dogs, cats, and all the other typical childhood pets. However, my father once brought home a baby raven whose mother had been killed and the nest disturbed by the mining activity where my dad worked. I fed it canned dog food, and it would fly and land on my shoulder. The raven was a fun pet until it started to "whitewash" the house and deck, and we ended up taking it to our cousin's farm near Hurricane, Utah.
Linda is at a different level regarding animals, wild or domestic. I've often commented that, like the hobos of the great depression who marked driveways and curbs of homes where people were willing to provide food and shelter, the animal kingdom must have something similar with the number of wild things that show up on our doorstep.
Perhaps it is because we live just out of town, and the subdivision provides an easy spot for people to drop off unwanted animals instead of taking them to the shelter. Still, I have seen the typical domesticated animals, such as dogs and cats, receive attention from my loving wife. For example, while walking on the treadmill in the garage one snowy morning, I was looking out the back window when I witnessed a large rabbit hop to our back door and wait. We don’t own any rabbits that I was aware of; however, soon enough, Linda emerged, and she and the rabbit walked to the barn together. Crazy.
The duck, it turns out, was wild and injured. Linda had found it swimming in a small pool of water created by the monsoon season in the arena. It hadn't fled when Linda approached, and Linda recognized the bite marks of a dog on the poor duck. Seventy dollars later and a sworn oath from Linda not to tell anyone the vet had patched up a wild duck, Linda turned it loose amongst the chickens until it was well enough to continue its journey. The duck never left the yard, and thankfully, none of its wild brethren have decided to take up residence with us for now.
Written September 22, 2022