The weather is wacky here in Southeast Michigan.  We went weeks with only sunshine and not a cloud in the sky, and now it has rained incessantly this past week.  It is prudent to pack an umbrella these days, but … on the bright side, it could be snow.

Luckily my boss is up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where it WAS flurrying while he was e-mailing me.  His absence allowed me to linger in the house a little longer to sip a second cup of coffee, while I awaited those pesky raindrops to end.  Then, I enjoyed my walk once the sun finally peeked through the clouds.

Once Mr. Sun arrived, I hustled down to Council Point Park, toting my umbrella, just in case Mother Nature turned the faucet on again.  The neighborhood sidewalks, and especially the asphalt perimeter path, were still rain-slickened and slippery from wet leaves, so I had to be careful not to wipe out.

A common expression for a spate of rainy days is saying it is “weather for ducks” but I think the ducks actually enjoy the rain.  I know I got caught in a chilly rain on Monday at the Park, and, while I was fretting, the ducks just kept paddling along in the Ecorse Creek, oblivious to those annoying raindrops.

I often stop to watch the mallards at Council Point Park, pitying them as they line up like soldiers on a partially submerged log to stay out of the Creek water, especially when they roost.  Rain or shine, warm or cold, they’ll be sitting there, minding their own business, and I’ll happen to pass by and glance their way.  Then, there they go, one by one, plopping into the murky water and submerging their necks, tipping forward until their tails are straight up in the air.  These days I get the shivers watching them, but I also get a chuckle since their position looks a bit comical as well.  I don’t know whether they are looking for breakfast or getting their bodies wet so they can preen and distribute the oil throughout their feathers to keep them waterproofed.

I sure would have liked to be waterproofed earlier this week during that chilly rain!

The weatherman says we are getting off-and-on rain this weekend.  I’ll be a perpetual optimist and hope to get a walk in both days, but, unfortunately I am not in control of the big faucet in the sky.

[Image of girl with umbrella by Ms. Parasol from Pixabay]