Tales from the Bark Side

By Keith Ross | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, June 23, 2007

Welcome back to the bark side of life here in Ottertail where the muted roar of full blown tractor motors filled the air last weekend. Smokin’ Iron has come and gone and now the morning is graced with the tranquility of bird song. Turtlefest is coming to Perham this week and the festivities are worth taking in. I love this time of year where you can almost go from one event to another all summer long.

While attending the tractor pull in Ottertail, I happened upon a man from Iowa who calls himself the “Gooseman” and he walked around the arena with a gaggle of geese parading behind him (in formation). I will delve deeper into this subject at a later date. Speaking of dates, geese, or their cousins, the duck, it seems we have a date with Daffy today. This third installment is the conclusion of a three part series called “I am a Duck”.

I AM A DUCK — the conclusion

There was this business of learning to fly, which after a few somersaults while trying to land, I learned to master quite well.

One day, when I was flying around the homestead, I heard a voice calling to me; it was the father over by the barn calling, “Donald (the father always called me Donald), come here.” He had the manure spreader out and was cleaning the pen.

I decided to land and ended up in the spreader on top of the litter. After walking around on the top of the stuff, and balancing on the edge, I decided to get down.

One Sunday afternoon, the family went for a drive and I flew along side of them as they drove down the driveway.

They turned right and I kept flying straight across the fields to a small lake where I swam and played in the mud until it was almost dark. I flew home and they were very happy to see me.

One crisp late fall day I was flying over a pasture heading for the barn when suddenly I seemed to be suspended in mid air. There was a pain in my chest and I couldn’t breathe. I plummeted to the ground and landed very hard. I had hit a power line at full speed.

I was taken in and checked out and given fresh water, food, and straw. I was sore and stiff for a few days but I recovered just fine.

On another day, a flock of wild mallard ducks flew over the house as I was sitting on the steps. They were quacking as they flew over.

I just stood on the steps and cocked my head so I could get a good look at them. As I watched them, I felt no kinship with them what so ever and had no desire to join them. I watched until they were out of sight and then I sat down and took a nap.

I began to hear gunshots and I heard that it was duck hunting season. On Sunday Oct. 17, 1971, I went out and flew around for a while.

Epilogue

Daffy was never seen again. About that time, a fox was seen in the field across from the house ....

Thank you for your entry into the “Best Critter Tale” contest, Bernice Dalluge of Fergus Falls. I had to do some necessary editing to fit the story into our format. Bernice sent in eight type-written pages of “I Am A Duck.”

I hate to chop anybody’s work because I know a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into the writing of it.

A tale of 500 words or less is perfect for this forum and I won’t have to edit as much.

Next week, we’ll have another tale to be told but don’t let that dissuade you from sending in an entry to the contest.

Our sponsors for this contest are: Wal-Mart; The Country Store; Dave Peters Jewelry; The City Bakery; Coopers; Don Pablo’s; Dan’s Sewing and Vacuums.

The winners will be able to pick up their prizes at these business’s locations when the time comes.

Send critter tales to info@rosswoodkennels.com or write at Keith Ross, Richville, MN 56576 or you can phone it in to me at 218-495-2195.