The End of a Beautiful Giant

The End of a Beautiful Giant

Attention: Dramatic Turn see below in this post!

Like I said before, the day that Pipke was born it had been a very severe thunderstorm, so severe that there had been a lot of storm damage all over the country.

At our place there hadn't been so much damage, only here and there we had seen large branches that had been teared off or billboards on the road that had been blown down.

At first sight we thought that we were lucky, but now four months later it showed that this hadn't been so.

It was really unfortunately but the old beautiful Willow tree on the other side of the street had suffered from the gusty wind, it had become too much for it!

Although the tree seemed OK back then, now – the owners of the place had discovered that there was a fissure in it, and it had started to rot there, with the result that there was now a big hole in it. The beautiful giant had now become a danger not only to the house but also to the people who passed there, it was no longer stable. Another gusty wind could blow the tree over. The people from the fire department came to inspect the tree and they strongly recommended to remove it.

The owners were of course responsible if anything should happen, so they had no choice.

They and also we found it so unfortunate for the beautiful tree: his death sentence was signed!

But, it was not only unfortunate for the tree but also for the ducks, Pipke's family!

What would they do – now that their habitat was going to change?

We had to wait and see!

It was already late in the evening of September 9, 1995 that the firemen arrived to remove the tree.

First we thought: “they arrive so late in the evening, it will be dark before they can finish the job”, we even doubted if that would be possible.

From the moment that the ducks saw the fire engine, they panicked and they ran away very scared from the danger to the woodland of one of our neighbour's.

Last visit at the pond

Just before the cut down.

Very subdued we watched the firemen extending the ladder from their fire engine.

They started with the highest branches on top of the tree.

Their chainsaws made an enormous clamor, they also had to chop.

First the smaller and then the larger branches, each time descending meter by meter, and every time a heavy branch fell down on the ground, we could feel the earth tremble.

When a piece of the trunk fell – it almost felt like an earthquake – even our whole house trembled.

They had finished the job in no time and before it was dark.

Oh, it was such an awful sight now – a large heap of branches and trunks was the only remainder of that beautiful tree. It had taken the willow such a long time to become so tall and beautiful, and now he was demolished in no time.

The place had lost his charm now.

The pond with the ducks and also the beautiful Willow tree had once “lured” us to this place!

Of course, there was still the pond – but what with the ducks – would they return?

The next day, the firemen came back to remove all what remained.

Now it would become a real adaptation for us, we missed the view of the old Giant!

The ducks returned the day after – but they weren't at ease at all – their habitat was destroyed now.

The days afterwards, we saw them less and less.

We only could see them so now and then in the distance, far away – in our neighbour's woodland – and fourteen days later – they were gone and never returned!

We never saw them again.

We could never find out what happened with them.

Pipke's family had disappeared!

Of course there still rested the pond, not all was gone – but what is a pond without ducks – for me it's only a deep puddle with water. It was no longer so attractive, and also “this” would come to an end much sooner then we had expected.

Only a few years later our street underwent a total transformation.

The road was broadened, and to widen the road they (the municipal agencies) had decided that the pond came too close to the road, so: it had to go.

They filled the pond with earth and after only a few months you could see no more – that there had once been a pond.

All what could remind us on Pipke's family was gone!

An era was closed!

Next time we will continue with: A Discovery

Hope to see you then!
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A Dramatic Turn

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Read this story

Thanks for your visit

I wish you all the best

Please read also 

 Pipke's Very Last Fight

Pipke's Very Last Journey

The Days After

Flying Lessons

Flying Lessons

She was now already more than three months old.

Many weeks before we had seen that she was flapping her wings to practice to learn to fly.

Practicing to get strong wings.

From time to time we saw her hopping – while she flapped her wings – to try to come off the ground – and then we encouraged her and we went running in front of her – like two fools – while also we flapped our arms

Then one day, we were practicing again and then it happened. While she raced after us, she flapped her wings and hopped and all of a sudden – she went airborne – not yet high – but she flew a few meters.

                                        Fly Pipke ... fly! 

The touch down was not so good, it was rather falling down on her belly.

We encouraged her every time she tried to fly, and although her balance was still poor, one day she succeeded to fly so high that we were afraid that she would fly over the fence.

She practiced her flying skills very often, but she really couldn't get the right balance.
Once she was practicing, and again she flew rather high, but when she tried to land, she came almost in coalition with the wall of our garden house.

From that moment, it seemed almost as if she was afraid to fly high, she never flew that high again, but maybe there was also another explanation for this: I think – that it was probably because we also stayed on the ground, (of course we didn't go up in the air) that she never flew high and she developed a rather funny and special style of flying – she only flew just above the ground – while her toes hardly touched the ground.

Now we still wonder “how” she could escape from our neighbour's pen, the place was surrounded with a very proper fence, there were no holes in it: had she flown over the fence?

We could never figure it out, and now we still think that she could fly when she wanted it – when she was in need.

The anecdote below proves this:

Once we were working on the lawn of our front garden which is situated right next to the roadway, and as always she was there working with us.

Suddenly, we saw that a car approached very fast and it seemed as if it would drive almost on our lawn.

Because we were afraid that the car would hit Pipke we yelled: “Pipke fly!” She understood that very well – and suddenly she flew up in the air – away from the danger. The driver of the car was a little embarrassed, he was in fact distracted by Pipke, he found it was so special that she was there working with us.

When we were working in the front garden, we had to tell Pipke's story many times (in short of course) to people who passed because they asked so many questions. They were charmed by her beauty. Even many years later, those same people asked about Pipke when they saw us working there without her.

Anyhow -- although she never could find a good flying balance, her balance while standing on one paw became excellent.

As all ducks also she stood often sleeping on one paw. We could always see that she made plans to do that because she then started to shake her paw. Then she closed her webbed foot and tried to find a good place to hide it between her feathers. After shaking her foot a few times, it disappeared completely between her feathers. She did the same with her beak.

She could often stand in this position for hours, this was resting for her.

Imagine that you as a human have to stand on one foot for hours, I think you don't even have to try it!

Meanwhile she had adopted herself to a daily routine.

Every morning when my husband went to open her pen she wanted to go to the garden house to eat at the large food container.

Now – before we realized it - Summer was almost over, and at that moment we didn't know that there would come a great change in our and Pipke's life.

Next time I will give away what happened.

See you!

Husband's Plan C

The Escape

September came, and my husband was still looking for another place for Pipke.

One of our neighbors has a beautiful garden (approx. 10.000 square meters) with a pond also occupied by ducks: a secure place surrounded with a fence. He offered us to bring her to their pond. The place is situated at only 250 meters from our home, so we could visit her every day.

After my husband pushed for a while to bring her there – I agreed – I could live with it, so I could keep an eye on her. It seemed like a good solution.

In the morning of September, 4 my husband took her away. He stepped outside and she followed him, not knowing what would come next, she trusted him completely.

I still can see the image of them both – leaving our house and crossing the street.

I stayed at home, it was too hard for me to see her in panic again. With pain in my heart I had accepted that she would no longer be here, but still nearby.

Five hours later, and although I told my husband to stay at home and not to intervene, my husband went back to see how she was doing. He was horrified with what he saw! He found her there – in the middle of the lane – quacking very loudly and again totally in panic, she had escaped from the enclosure!

What a great luck that it wasn't a busy street, it could have ended very badly.

So, with tears in his eyes he brought her back, and then he said the words I had been waiting for for so long: “now she will stay with us forever! What if I hadn't found her at that moment”. He didn't want to think of what could have happened.

She was so exultant to be back home, that she jumped full of joy in a bucket that was standing there on our terrace.

Now my hubby still says, that he had a hunch that there was something wrong with her at that particular moment. I really do believe this because, this time, it was me who said : “stay at home, you are only going to make things worse when she sees you”. He was the one who wanted to go back and we are both still happy that he did it!

(Only one day later *something happened that closed an era in our and also Pipke's family's life.)

Vistiting the pond, the place where *it would happen only a few days later.

Why my hubby had plan a, b and c.

I want to explain this.

He had his reasons for making these plans.

In that same year, we had planned to go on holiday later that year at the end of September, we had already rented a cottage in Brittany (France). There's a lovely little place called: St. Vincent de Paul, in the middle of nowhere. We had been there already three times before, and we spent there the best holidays we ever had, but of course, the birth of Pipke had ruined this new plan.

Because I didn't want to leave her, we had to cancel this holiday.

My hubby also looked more to the future, he would like to travel and that would be difficult having Pipke around. At first he thought, maybe we can find someone who can take care of her, here at our place so we could travel – but after some time – he was also no longer interested in traveling, she had also conquered his heart.

Now our bond grew stronger and stronger – we would never leave her – not even for one whole day!

For the rest of her life we never went away from home for more than 8 hours, it was rather  exceptional that this happened (maybe only three times and then it was because we were invited somewhere so we were obliged).

We no longer took trips or vacations, we were no longer interested in other places.

Our place was at home – together with Pipke.

Now she was at home in our garden, it had become her little world.

These three following pictures were taken in August 1995.

Showing off her feathers.

Not interested in art class, she rather cuddled.

Her first dive in a large pool.

Meanwhile we could extend her little world, we were allowed to use a small part of our neighbour's meadow for Pipke. So, my hubby made a little opening in our fence to that small part of the meadow. He installed a little fence around that part of the meadow so she could go safely in and out whenever she liked. She loved to be there, because there were always long grasses and wild plants available, and that wasn't the case in our garden.

At the meadow just behind her pen.

Mud a real feast for her!

Hey what's in there!

Here she's working in the frontgarden with us. She's still so young and already our garden assistant.

So now and then my hubby went with her in the large meadow to search for worms.

At sunset, she now came quacking at the window of the living room, or she knocked with her beak on the door of the laundry room to go to her pond to sleep.

She became a real member of the family.

From then on we only made plans for the future together with her.

With this happy completion of plan c I will close this chapter and I'm going to prepare the next post.

Next time we continue with: Flying Lessons.

Hope to see you then!

In Loving Memory 2010

To my dear Pipke

In My Heart

I thought of you with love today, but that's nothing new.


I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too.


I think of you in silence, I often speak your name.


Now all I have is memories, and your pictures in a frame.


Your memory is my keepsake, with which I’ll never part.


God has you in his keeping.


I have you in my heart.

May 25, 1995 – September 14, 2009.

In loving memory of

Pipke

PS: see also