The wet has arrived

I was dreaming I was sleeping in the cockpit of a JAL flight and came to as it landed momentarily, in error on the wrong runway (no doubt the result of this news article).  My plane took off immediately then landed, in poor weather, on the correct runway.

     “We’ll have to stay here,” said the captain.  “The weather is too bad to keep flying.”

     Rain was lashing the plane like a wet rag, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.  

     At that point I came to and realised there was a soggy gale raging except I was in bed.  A quick glance at the louvres, all open on the eastern side of the house and bone dry, told me it was the first of the north-west rain for the year. 

     I was groggy, the result of waking at 4.30 with Pepper Zen. 

     “Stop quacking,” I said, tersely.

     She did till I was about to drop off.  Then she kept making the odd, quack, quack, as if she was desperately trying to be quiet, but the roosters next door were heralding a new dawn and telling her to rejoice.

     At 5.30 and still awake, I scooped her up, kissed her and deposited her in her cage.

     “I’m sorry,” I said and returned to bed, falling into a deep sleep where I was flying with two Japanese pilots and landing in a storm.

     A storm?  I raced down the back stairs to rescue Pepper Zen.  She was in the northern-most corner of the cage, chest against the wire as if she was trying to lap up as much rain as possible.

     “What are you doing, Pepper?” I screamed as she avoided my hand. “I’ll save you.”

     My sarong had fallen around my waist as I leaned into the cage.  Why was she avoiding me?  Finally I grabbed her and clutched her to my wet chest as we raced upstairs to the warmth and safety of the back veranda table to dry out. 

      Then into the kitchen.

      Breakfast time.  She has grown so much.

     Compared to a month ago.

      The only problem with big ducks is not just that they do bigger poo.  They also poo much more frequently.  So Pepper Zen needed to be confined.

     I text a photo of a confined Pepper Zen to Detta, a fellow carrier of the Duck Appreciation Gene (known medically as DAG777).  Seffy was having a sleepover with Detta, one of her two godmothers.

     “Pepper Zen inside warm and safe having a cup of tea with me.”

     Detta text back immediately, “Perfect weather for ducks.”

     No wonder she was avoiding me!