Rubber ducky

With no air conditioning, our house offers little respite from the summer heat. So often we'll just hang out in the backyard, shins basking in the cool air that hovers over the lawn as the sun dips over our house and creates a pocket of shade.

Today, Ben stood in the grass, busy yanking his Chinese yoyo (dirty! jk, no really, he has a Chinese yoyo) as Amanda and I chatted through a screen - she was out in the yard and I was in the kitchen, spooning a kiwi (dirty! ok except pretty much not at all) - when we noticed two rubber duckies sitting on the sill, outside of the window. We looked at each other. Had these always been there? No. I hadn't seen my rubber ducky in years, yet there he was, stubby bill slightly parted in a smile, eyes looking upward. And with a friend, too. Hmm. Random.

After laughing about how our house is a trove of randomly appearing and disappearing crap, Amanda paused. "Oh!" she exclaimed. Every morning, around 7AM, this bird will come perch on our windowsill and peck at its reflection for an hour. It is quite the accompaniment to breakfast. My dad must have gone through his Stash of Old Crap That He Never Throws Away, Ever, and found the two duckies. Now, with no place to stand and two strange new birds staring back, The Breakfast Pecker will have to find something new to tap.

"Good idea," Amanda said, as my dad passed by. "I know," replied my dad, as he rounded the corner and continued down the hall. I'm thrilled to know where my rubber ducky is.