Valentine's Visitor

I expected a surprise for Valentine's Day, but I never dreamed the particular thing I awoke to this morning. The fireplace is one of my most favorite things in our home and we have a fire going almost everynight. Last night was no exception. We usually just go to bed and let the fire go out on it's own and as a result we leave the chimney open....or we used to. I awoke this morning to Jay's girl like screams to get up, so of course I rushed to the living room to discover a DUCK flying around. Yes, I said a duck. No, I'm not making this up. Well, as later discovered it was a Teal to be more specific. Our fearless cats ran in all directions to hide and Lester's tail fluffed out like a raccoon. I put Lester away in the bathroom and Cash was nowhere to be found. The duck flew around behind the end table and camped out. Meanwhile, Jay and I deliberated a plan of attack. In my head I could just see this duck flying around breaking my grandmother's beautiful dishes all beautifully displayed on my china cabinet. I envisioned lamps breaking, pictures falling, etc. We decided to open the door, I would "shoo" it out from behind the end table and Jay would net it. It did work without a hitch, but the whole scene did look as ridiculous as it seems. The poor little duck definitely took a wrong turn, but flew away gracefully. Luckily, nothing in our house was broken, the cats eventually recovered, and we made it to church on time. Lesson learned. Close your chimney at night. More than birds will fly down. I am looking on the brightside. At least it wasn't a bat! It's always something in the country.