[Tweeters] 86 Ducks, a couple of Loons, and an Owl

[Jeff Gibson]

My dear ol’ Ma passed away yesterday at the age of 92 after years of suffering from dementia. Dad passed a couple of years ago, also  with 
dementia. I’ve been here since 2014 and what a long strange trip it has been.	

This morning in a house empty of anyone except me and the cat, I took the time to honor Mom by counting ducks.

You see, my Mom was kind of a duck freak. It all started back in the later 60’s on a stop at the Rocky Reach Dam gift shop, which was inhabited by these cute little pine carved ducks. All these ducks ( a Mom and a Dad and 7 babies) are lined up on a shelf above the stairwell, picked up on trips to our vacation spot over several years in Conconully .

It’s a fact that just about any horizontal surface in this house is covered with ducks - wooden, ceramic ,stone, glass, mystery substance, whatever. My count was 86 ducks. Other birds include 3 loons, and one owl that I sculpted out of limestone found in a creek near Baker “lake”.

Mom also went through a wood carving phase of relief work featuring
 birds and plants in the mid 80’s , and previous to that  abstract bird sculptures in driftwood - my favorites.

I probably missed a few ducks in my count but you can’t take your ducks when you go.

Jeff Gibson
Missing Mom in
Port Townsend Wa