Killing some more time

at the pond #34912

Chance begged and begged to go fishing today. He guilted me into because it's the last day of his Christmas break. It's cold, I said. He quickly stated that I could sit in the car. Oh fun, I thought.

It really was an absolutely, beautiful day even if it was a little chilly. And I did sit in the car for a little bit. But then I realized that we were probably going to be there for a while so I got my camera and headed to the water. So here are the required photos of Chance fishing.

One day, I'm going to post a recap of the last six years he has spent at this pond. But not today.

So, then  I'm all, like, now what? Looking around, all I can see are dead plants, bushes and tree things. I tell myself to look hard. Try to see something that you might normally overlook. And lookey what I found. Knockout Roses... only there are no blooms. Just the bush. And what's left of the flowery part looks like a star. And, of course, the thorns are still there. I'm pretty sure that this is not a new discovery, but I was pretty darn pleased with myself. Ha ha. Beautiful color amongst all that dead brown-ness.

And. Does anyone know what kind of duck this is? It swims underwater. At first I thought it was one of those snake birds. But they have longer beaks and narrower heads. I figure I could spend hours on the internet trying to figure it out, but I have stuff in my reader that needs to be read. Can you help?

Let me know. It's the coolest, freakiest duck I've ever seen.