Odd duck

   I don't know very much about ducks, but I enjoy watching the ways they interact with each other, and admire that they are able to survive without seeming to know where or when their next meal will come, or how the rest of the day, or their lives for that matter, will progress. It's also quite interesting to me that they seem to mostly stay together as a group (despite the occasional territorial squabble), yet when there is food available, they appear willing to throw their cohorts aside without care.
   I took the picture below a day or two ago during my daily walk, but I have noticed this one particular duck for at least a week, as it stands out from the rest (which I believe are mallards) in both size and color. I was drawn to this scene because I like the idea that this apparently different animal not only seems to be accepted by the others, but that it accepts the others in return. Perhaps it is just desperate for the comfort of the group, but it is also accepting of the group, something that I feel conflicted about in my own life at times.