Today another story about supporting one another as we practice, grow,
and stretch our wings. This story is
about young loon named Rudy.
More “Musings From the End of The Dock.”
Papa Knows
Best
It’s a
gorgeous morning and I peer out into the bay hoping that Rudy and mama will be
floating nearby. It seems that Rudy is
spending more and more time in the larger body of the lake, quite busy learning
all that little loons need to learn before leaving this home for one that’s
warmer with open waters in the winter.
I set out in
my little red boat and find Rudy and mama near the west end of the lake,
fishing just outside of the cattails. I
put down the anchor a safe distance away so I can watch them and yet all the
while hope that they will make their way closer to me. I had barely gotten settled when I noticed
that Rudy had caught a glimpse of me and began very slowly making his way
toward me while mama swam with her head under water, fishing unaware. He was hesitant at first swimming toward me
then turning back and then there was a moment when it seemed that his curiosity
got the best of him and throwing all caution to the wind, he made a bee-line in
my direction.
It was then
that mama’s head emerged from the water and seeing Rudy swimming confidently
toward this stranger, she began swimming after him and let out a low call, just
enough to catch his attention. Rudy
turned around as if to reassure mama that he knew what he was doing, then turned
back toward me. Mama again let out a low
coo and was in close pursuit. Just as
Rudy was about 20 feet from the boat, mama maneuvered her way around in front
of him which left him no choice but to change course. She used her body as a safety barrier to
guide Rudy away. But Rudy was not to be
deterred. He would swim away for a bit
and convinced that mama had let her guard down, he would promptly swim back
toward me only to find that he was under mama’s radar and she had the upper
wing.
Just when I
thought Rudy might give up and go back to fishing, I heard papa call from down
the lake and caught a faint glimpse of him moving towards us. Rudy heard this too and he suddenly became
quite animated and began swimming very quickly toward papa who was still a great
distance away. Mama seemed to be
relieved to know that reinforcements were on the way.
They met
toward the middle of the lake, some distance from me. Rudy swam joyful circles around papa and then
there was a “changing of the guards” so to speak as papa and Rudy began
swimming toward me and mama swam off in the distance toward the other end of
the lake. I noticed Rudy turning to look
back at mama a few times and when it seemed that she was far enough away, he
began swimming very quickly in my direction, papa meandering behind him. This time there were no soft coos warning him
to turn back, no mama circling in front of him using her body as a barrier. Papa stayed a safe distance behind keeping a
watchful eye but clearly not at all concerned.
Rudy seemed to know that papa would allow him this experience and that
he would be safe no matter what. He came
directly in front of me within ten feet of the boat and looked me over quite
thoroughly. He would swim a little
distance away and then circle back, at times diving under the water then
reappearing a little too close at which time he would call to papa and papa
would come to him, reassure him and then go back to watching from a distance. Having satisfied his curiosity, Rudy swam happily
around me for quite some time, at times peering at me, at times preening and at
other times just going about the business of being his little loon self.
I drank it
all in and watched them for a long while and smiled as I left them. I'm often amazed by how closely
nature mirrors life for us. I could see
myself in each of them.
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