The Legend of... Bill the Duck

For Dave who inspired me to share this tale. For Ruth who made it happen.

A number of years ago while in Michigan I received a call from a dear friend Ruth. It seems Ruth who owns a family farm had located a very hard item she needed for the farm. The item was located in N. Wisconsin.

The issue was that Ruth hates driving long distances and asked if I would accompany her and do the driving.

"Sure," I said, "Whatta we going to get?"

"Oh, I found a Duck Plukker up there on Craigslist. I want to take a duck up and if it does a good job, bring it home."

By bring it home she of course meant the Plukker, not the duck...or maybe she meant the plukked duck and the Plukker.

I arrived at the farm about 6 a.m. Ruth came out and went to the duck pen and caught up a beauty of a duck, a Muscovy, pure white. She had a wooden chicken crate ready, slipped the duck in it and put it in the bed of the truck behind the cab.

Now, me bein' me, I felt a little bad. I've done a fair amount of butchering in my time from chickens to hogs but I had never taken one on a tour outta state to do it. We had water and feed to keep the fella comfortable on his ride.

So with Ruth as co-pilot and Bill tucked in the bed up against the cab to protect him from the wind, we set off for Wisconsin from Southern Michigan. This was a two-day trip so Ruth studied the map as I wound my way NW.

Sometime hours later Ruth says, "Hey Ange, if we take the ferry at Ludington we can save hours." So, I turned the ol' F250 to the port and set a course for Ludington. Now this wasn't a first for either of us but it would be for little Bill.

To be continued...