Hello everyone,

Three and a half years ago, my spouse and I walked down to Central Moravian Church, me to practice on the organ in the Sancturary, and he to tend to the overgrown ivy in the bed on the north side of the church.  When I walked out the door after finishing my practice, Dave told me there was a female mallard sitting on a nest of eggs under the second bush on the upper level of the bed of ivy.  (Got all that?)

Indeed! Mama was sitting there when we peeked, eyeing us both rather cautiously, but she did not stir.  Dave and I decided to keep this a secret until the eggs hatched, as we were afraid having others throng the nest would make the mother duck nervous, and she might abandon the nest.  And so, we did (keep it a secret).

That was worry number 1.

Now, Central Moravian Church, while not that far away from the nearest water, is also not next door to it.  There was going to have to be quite a journey to get down the green, with its rolling hills, over the stone wall (or around it) at the bottom, across the quaint (but occasionally lethal) colonial brick sidewalk, and then across a quite busy street. Main Street lives up to its name.  Supposing the ducklings made it that far, and supposing they made it safely across the street, they still had several hundred feet to get to the creek.

That was worry number 2.

We checked on the nest often, and then one day when we walked down, there was no mama, and the eggs were all broken open.  And this is where the adventure began.  Being naturally curious (read that “nosy”) and also rather tender hearted, I set out to find the babies and their mother.  As I proceeded on my odyssey, I just felt that this, written down, might make a decent children’s story.

Fast forward to summer of 2024.  The story got mentioned to friends, and they persisted, so the story then got shared with friends, and they were rather adamant about my pursuing publication.  Which made me wonder.  So, I sent it to more friends and more rumblings about publishing.

Long story short, the book will be out very soon.  Not soon enough for me, who has been chomping at the bit, but soon.  The goal was to have it out by Thanksgiving, so you’ve got 3 more days, guys, if you are reading this.

And thus begins my third career.  More about the other two later.

Blessings,

Richard