I’ve lived in Sacramento over a year. Last season I didn’t catch a single duck here. Not a single one. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. It was just that ponds were hard to come by, so little water early in the winter. The ducks never dispersed into smaller water, because, well, there wasn’t any. What I did find were mallards and Anakin was more than a little opposed. They’re a big duck. He’s a small falcon. He liked his bones and feathers just the way they were currently arranged on his body, thank you very much.
So on Christmas, when I found two mallards on a pond, a drake and a hen, I thought, Well buddy, at least you get to fly. Make it look good and I’ll pretend I didn’t notice that you didn’t really try.
There was a time I couldn’t really tell, you know? A stoop and a connect that didn’t quite yield a successful hunt always looked like bad luck to me. I’ve learned a lot in the last eight years, perhaps not as much as the falcon has learned about me, but I can tell the difference now between a real hunt and a faked one. I know what Anakin is capable of and when he doesn’t give it. I also know how to watch the ducks to tell if he means business. They see so much that I cannot. If the ducks aren’t all that worried, I know I’m being played.
Christmas Duck
But this time the ducks were worried.
And they had a right to be.
Very nice. I haven’t witnessed a good falcon hunt in a while – wild or not. I miss the thrill of that dance. Thanks for helping me remember and congratulations. I hope it was as exciting as I imagine.
John,
It was definitely a heart thumper. It never ceases to irritate me how my hands shake and the adrenaline pours through my blood while I orchestrate and try to convince myself that I won’t do something to force the hand of disaster. Always me. Never the falcon.I’d forgive the falcon his foibles, but not myself. That’s what makes it all feel like a miracle. That I didn’t somehow f**k it up. I’ll take my miracles wherever I can get them though.