the visitor

I was up in Santa Clarita this afternoon for a noon time event sponsored by the Interfaith Council marking the National Day of Prayer. After the event I stopped by Starbucks for a bottle of water and to check my email. Then I closed the lap top and opened a book I've been reading, Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise." But I was annoyed by the only other people in the coffeehouse: a table of three guys doing Bible study. An older guy was lecturing two younger guys about sexual immorality and reading passages from Paul.

I got in my car and drove to a shady side street to read my book. I bury myself in stories of Copland, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg.

Suddenly I hear quacking. I look to my left and there's a duck standing in the middle of the road quacking at me. A car comes up, stops and then drives around the duck. A pretty brown duck. It didn't look sickly, but did seemed confused and lost. It walked around my car, very talkative. Walked about 15 feet away and then back toward me. It seemed to be talking to me, but I didn't get out of the car because I didn't want to scare it. It walked around aimlessly. After about half an hour it walked toward me again on the sidewalk this time, paused to quack a few times at me through the open passenger side window. Then continued to walk, quacking, past the car until it disappeared up the sidewalk behind me.

The Rest is Noise.