THE VIEW FROM ‘DUCK BAY’ at the Church O’ The Pines, just greening up. This shallow backwater is a fair walk from the cabin, across the footbridge and through the pines. The little dock is not as straight as when I built it years ago, but still a fine viewing platform and a wonderful ‘destination,’ especially in spring. From it, we listen to the music of white-throated sparrows, ruby-crowned kinglets, indigo buntings, and red-winged blackbirds, even the soft ‘snoring’ of a leopard frog. We watch the nesting geese take great offense at the approach of other, unauthorized geese, and hear their loud, brassy challenge. We observe the comings and goings of Brother Muskrat, intent on his daily chores, and after sitting still long enough, are rewarded with the chance for close observation of the white-throats, pecking, and rustling in the undergrowth. A pair of blue-winged teal and a pair of mallards eventually cruise by as well. All in all a fair reminder of a world still turning as it should, still the proper distance from the sun, filled with extraordinary life and beauty.