My friend lived in a charming area in the center of the city where veteran soldiers returning from WWII set up their first homes. We were sitting in the backyard when I asked where the beautiful fragrance of lilacs was coming from, and he pointed out the little yellow house across the back lane. “Do you want to see the place? The owners have just put it on the market.” I can never pass up a walk amongst flowers.

Why force-feed ducks? It is poultry abuse to some but a farming practice for others. Animal rights activists anthropomorphize poultry, poultry farmers consider it a food source. That is the truth of it. Is either viewpoint right or wrong?

It is nature’s mechanism to ensure the survival of a species through primal competitiveness. Human beings are very inventive in cloaking our pursuits for water, food, shelter and nurturing progeny under the guise of civilization.

The backyard is lush with a rainbow of flora. All the perennials that I have nurtured over the decades reward my senses with their colors and fragrance. But it has been a wet summer, and the rain has awoken little sleepy heads who have poked out all over the lawn.