I thought long and hard on how to announce this.  I mulled about it for weeks.  It’s not fun eating crow.  Don’t like the taste. Never did.  We all like to stand our ground and follow through with our promises.  I’m no different.  But once in a while we all need to get the salt shaker out and pluck some feathers.  In my case, I might need some hot sauce too.

Boy, does crow taste horrible.  Doesn’t it?

It reminds me of the time our son Justin decided to cook a duck.

For those of you who are parents of boys, there is a certain level of expectation involved with raising them that you never know what to expect next.  Boys can pull the craziest things out of their hats, as they continually push the envelope as to what is done, what can be done, and what needs to be done.

Justin had some friends over.  What do country boys do when hanging out together?  Go back to the pond?  Quad ride? Build something adventurous?  The list is endless.

All I know is that Justin came home busting at the seams.  The laughter that echoed through the house as the two other boys came in with him was contagious.  My wife and I had no idea what was going on, nor could we with all the chaos.  We couldn’t sort through the laughs and giggles to hear what was actually being said.

Turns out, the dog jumped in the pond and got a duck.

They took it off the dog.

They got the idea they wanted to try and eat it, so they plucked it and tried to dress it.

Justin is no professional meat butcher.

They did their best, but only got about four little chicken nuggets from a whole duck.

Three teenage boys kept laughing in the kitchen.  Spices were splashed on by boys who didn’t know how to cook a duck.  They fried him up. . . lots of butter.

Everything’s better with butter, right?

I didn’t think they’d actually eat it.  It was hysterical.

“Oh, it’s good!” they laughed and carried on.  

“Pretty filling? I laughed back.

It was quite an experience. Justin learned a lot that evening.  He learned how to pluck a duck, how to clean a duck, and how to get four little chicken nuggets out of a duck.  He also learned how to season the meat well.

I bet it was much better than crow.

So in my attempt to make light that the release date for Wonders In The Deep is changed, I ask that you all simply smile and find amusement in the fact that sometimes none of us know what we are doing.  Everything worth working for in life is a work in progress.  My writing, learning the ropes of being an author, it is the same.  I gave it my best estimate of when the book would be released, but the process has taken longer than we expected. 

So here is to eating crow, or duck, or whatever the dog jumped in the water to catch.

Wonders In The Deep

May 1, 2021

Thank you all for your patience.

It will be well worth it.

feature image of crow dinner by https://www.tacomalibrary.org/author/tacomalibrary_nw_history/