Little Mud Ducks

Why do ducks make mud????

I mean you give them nice clean water, and in a relatively short period of time they will have a puddle of mud...

"Have some mud with your water my dears?"

Sure, don't mind if we do... Some for us, some for Granny...

"Yikes... No thanks! Here let me give you some fresh water instead..."

And so we have mud. Mud, mud, mud... here and there and everywhere... I love mud when it is in the form of clay for creating some new ceramic creature. I love mud when I am making a mud pie with a favorite, friend (albeit a wee one, as most of the friends I have now would never deign to think of mud as fun...) I love mud, when a dear granddaughter transforms hers into a cup of "chocolate soup", her favorite, I am told... I "sip" some of the luscious chocolate soup down... and am ready for another cup :-)

I miss the muddy footprints of longtime heart buddies, gone to critter heaven. I miss the little muddy boots sitting in the hall. Yes, little boots are replaced by big boots, and then they are no more. Is the home cleaner without the advent of all that mud? No... just quieter, and at times emptier.

So, if you are reading this, enjoy the mud from your little ones borrowed or birthed, be they four-legged and furry or two-legged, cute and clever. They are all on loan to us, and before you know it, they will be gone.

Find ways to teach great things about life in everyday situations to the two-legged ones. Both the two-legged ones and the four-legged ones will often teach you. Two of my favorite bible verses, "The little foxes steal the grapes... Do not try to get away with even little things..." God knows it all.

Teach your little ones little things in every-day ways. It is in the daily living of life that, one truly learns to live. Head knowledge of the more lofty concepts, more complex ideas, more "elegant" service while good, can get in the way of real living, real doing, real knowing.

Do we know something, or do we live it?

And, are we passionate while living it?

My little mud ducks are very passionate about making mud... on a daily basis... every chance they get. They thrill in fresh water, quickly converting it to mud. This morning as I muse on mud, things that have gotten muddy, and muddy footprints of times past, I remember the importance of being passionate about the daily living of life.

May you have some mud musings of your own, about your own life. Take time to enjoy your little ones. Whether they are still glorying in the joys of making mud, or grown and gone...

Slow down, enjoy life. Make time to have a cup of that "chocolate soup" today. Too hard? You could always get a pair of mud ducks to help you!