Ducks (4/15/07)

I am not much of a fan of the Sopranos these days. In my mind season two will always be the finest moment of that show. The characters will live on in the cultural memory for a long time to come however, and one can only hope that at some point a movie is made. I'm sure that it will come close to overtaking the Godfather as the greatest mob-related film of all time.

It's hard to believe that it has been about eight years since the world was introduced to Tony and the gang. I know that my memory doesn't go back that far. I do remember vaguely however that a moment of great stress the patriarch is visited by a couple of ducks in his swimming pool. The confused mallard and his mate provide a source of great comfort to a very conflicted man.

Am I Tony Soprano? Not by a long shot. But today I was visited by a pair of ducks, and I can't help but draw a few parallels. They were enjoying themselves on the lawn outside my condo, nearly a mile from the nearest body of water. I spotted them resting there from my window, and did a double take...I'm not used to seeing ducks there. So I grabbed some bread from the refridgerator and quietly moved outside to feed and admire my new friends.

I sat on the lawn Indian-style and flicked breadcrumbs in their direction. The ducks seemed happy to have a snack, and inched ever closer to me. I must have been there for 30 minutes, and when they were full ,the ducks plopped down in the grass at a comfortable distance and softly quacked at me.

Oddly, this was soothing to my spirit. The ducks seemed to dissolve all of my worries the way that they did for Tony Soprano back in season two, back when I still watched the show.

My friends the ducks are gone now. Some children came and chased them away shortly after I went inside. But I keep looking out the window secretly hoping that they will come back to visit me again. On another day, when my spirits are down and the stress is mounting, perhaps they will.