Duck Feathers

We returned last night from a vacation in the warm sunny climate of Aruba, and awoke today to the chilly rainy weather of Delaware.

Okay, so maybe fifty three degrees isn't so bad for the end of November, but compared to eighty five degrees it's pretty darn chilly.

I was noticing that the ducks in the pond near our house are not bothered by the current weather.

I've been thinking about those ducks for some time now. Even when the temperature was in the low thirties a couple weeks back the ducks were contentedly paddling around the pond. When they submerged their heads for feeding and left their wet tail ends sticking up in the air, looking like an inverted bottle bobbing on the surface, I thought the poor creatures just HAD to be freezing their butts off.

Apparently not. The ducks seem quite content. Their feathers must have incredible insulating properties.

So why didn't humans get insulating feathers? If I had been equipped with a fluffy natural insulator, I would not have had to go to bed last night wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Then again, I probably would have been molting while laying on that ocean side chaise lounge last week.

I guess it's true that everything has its trade offs.