Anima Mundi

My morning commute runs, for about a half-mile, along the bank of a flood-control channel. It may be only a concrete basin, but it has not been dredged in quite a while; there is an entire miniature wetlands at its bottom--long dunes of silt, reeds, several decent-sized trees--and it is especially lively now, after a few weeks of torrential rain. The ducks are out in force, and there are lots of other waterfowl I don't recognize--egrets, a few pelican-esque things. Today I saw what I think might have been a kingfisher. It's really a little world to itself down there, and almost makes me wish I knew more about wildlife; the frenzied, quacking activity is quite amusing, and rarely fails to cheer me up a little.

Or perhaps it all simply means it's been too long since I've had roast duck.