Buck Learns About Good Friday

When Buck first heard the words 'good friday' he wondered what exactly was good about it ?

 After spending that day with the ambassador's family it became apparent to him.

BEFORE ...

AFTER ...

It was obvious to Buck, the 'good' came in bottles. 

Buck Meets Some Co-workers

From all that Buck could gather the ladies had initially met at their workplace twenty or so years ago.  Apparently spending all those hours together whining about an employer can help people form lifelong bonds and this group was a prime example of that.  The ladies gathered to celebrate the retirement of yet another of their group.   Buck knew all about retirement and was excited to learn that he’d be attending the dinner.  He couldn’t wait to meet the other duck.  The one the retiree was sure to be presented with.  He had so much to tell that duck.  It was after the dinner that they passed the gift bag to the new retiree and Buck was startled to see that all it contained was jewellery.  No duck.  Where was the duck ?  It was when he noted the appreciative look on the face of the new retiree that Buck understood that gifts are tailored to their recipient.   Apparently some people would rather get jewellery than a duckie. 

Buck decided he might never fully understand people.   What drove them?  Made them happy?  Apparently the answers are as varied as the people themselves.  Buck still had a lot to learn and so he sat in the middle of the table and listened intently to try and understand all he could. 

Here were his takeaways from this event :

Retirees get up when they want and smile a lot.

Flaming cheese directly behind your head can be very distracting.

“OPA!” means “look out here comes a flaming cheese” in greek.

Most importantly,  a circle of friends has the power to quash worries and woes and magnify all the smiley parts of life.  

Buck Meets More Family

Since the lady would be away for a long time on her next trip she discovered that she would miss the birthdays of 2 of her 3 children and simply would not hear of it.  "We'll have a party before I go" stated the lady and it was so.   Buck was thrilled to meet her children and her future son in law and  the fact that they all got to have double cake was simply the best.   They sang happy birthday to the daughter...

and Buck helped blow out the candles on the son'sice cream cake...

and shortly thereafter Buck discovered that he should not under any circumstances try to get the last of the wine from the bottom of the glass...

Buck Learns About Goals

“I did it!   I darn well, most assuredly , magnificently did it!” came a sudden piercing scream from the kitchen.  A quick look in that direction showed Buck a one woman conga line with serpentine motion across the kitchen doorway.  Buck was sure he saw the funky chicken on the first pass, then the walk like an Egyptian and a step or two of river dancing with interjections  of “Woot! Woot!” and some flailing moves that looked as if the lady had scored a touchdown.

The ambassador looked up over his reading glasses and smirked knowingly.  He asked “What did you do?” but he looked as if he already knew.  After all, both the lady and the scale were in the kitchen and she weighed herself daily

“I’ve lost it!” she squealed.

“I know” said the ambassador “I can see that but what did you do?”

“The weight!  I’ve lost it!  25 lbs! I’ve reached my Gooooal !“ 

“Congratulations” beamed the ambassador as the lady’s mood was contagious “I’m proud of you”.

The lady danced away singing loudly and the ambassador went back to his paper chuckling quietly to himself.

Buck was astounded at the proceedings.  He never realized how large the lady was. Twenty five pounds is the equivalent of 200 rubber duckies !  Suddenly the lady reappeared in her swimsuit “look at me, my old swimsuit fits and I’m going to bring it on our trip” she beamed at no one in particular.  Then she looked down and frowned a bit “too bad about those very close veins though.”

Buck did note the blue lines on her legs but he didn’t know what they were called. The name made perfect sense to him as those veins were ‘very close’ to the surface of her skin and he could indeed seem them clearly. 

“Well, I guess you can’t have it all” sighed the lady and she danced away heady with the victory over her greatest adversary – her own appetite.

Buck felt happy too.  If he could have chuckled he would have.  Maybe now the lady would abandon her high fiber,  low fat,  bean based diet.  

Buck Leans About Anniversaries

It was through the lady’s embarrassed stammering that she simply couldn’t understand how she forgot followed by the rapid questions “well what is the date today?” and “how many years has it been?”  plus the conversation that followed that Buck was able to piece the custom of anniversaries together. 

 It seems that folks celebrate many life events and to take an event to a place of honour the date that it originally happened on is remembered with special acts (called traditions) every single year.  Now having agreed that an event is worthy of an anniversary and observing it’s traditions,   it is also agreed that everyone who takes part sees it as an important event,  one worth remembering.   To forget this on any specific year (but especially after the second year or so) makes it appear that its importance has diminished over time.   This is okay if everyone forgets but if only one person forgets  it’s a rather serious infraction and requires some explaining in the form of say excuses or a series of rapid questions to deflect from that infraction.

It was when the ambassador came home with flowers saying ‘Happy Anniversary’ that the lady got red and flustered and started sputtering and dashing to the calendar  “well, it can’t be!” and she had the strangest look on her face.  The ambassador did not let her off the hook  “Yep, it is - NINE years”.   “Yikes!” thought Buck “She forgot after nine years… uh oh” .

There was a lot more sputtering and then ‘ Ohhhh… “ her voice trailed off and she realized she blew it and everyone knew.    She took the flowers and kissed the ambassador gently to let him know that the event when they met has not diminished in importance for her.   In fact Buck knew that the lady could not imagine her life without the ambassador,  she was just losing her marbles and Buck fully expected a house full of lemons in no time. 

 In the future Buck decided,  he would help her by remembering anniversaries for her and he would do it like this…

First thing in the morning on the day of the anniversary,  since the lady always got up first and then she’d remember.   Problem solved !

Bucks Meets PeeVanGee

Buck was happy to learn that he and the lady would be heading out to enjoy a lunch meeting with a former co-worker.   His favourite part was the escalator ride...

He liked to think of himself as a kind of dangerous duck type.   The worst part of the trip was riding the SRT or Scarborough Rapid Transit train - that thing was the noisiest vehicle he'd ever been on.  Buck decided that when the mayor asked him to vote on SRT or subway extension,  he'd choose subway everytime.  Scrap the LRT plan!

Once at the restaurant the lady and PeeVanGee talked up a storm.  Lots of updates transpired and Buck struggled to keep up while he enjoyed his salad (and beer ) ...


   The lady seemed thrilled to hear that PeeVanGee had left his latest job and taken a new position as  a not for profit consultant.  He said this new job was the best thing that could happen for him as he was able to spend a lot more time with his kids and the type of work he was doing suited him well.  Some days he would travel into the city to work with a client but lots of days he could work from home.  He said he was working on planning a trip somewhere south (maybe Mexico) with his family and that things were great with him.  He smiled a lot.  Buck liked that.

The lady seemed to have a special kinship with the folks she used to work with, her face lighting up as she talked about them.  It was clear to Buck that she worried about them,  their happiness mattered to her.  Buck noted that the lady seemed to value and protect her personal relationships more than her jewellery.  "Interesting",  thought Buck "that the mosts valuable things can't be bought or sold".  It was strange information for a duck who's life started in a store.   

It's Travel Time Again !

Buck was simply amazed to overhear a conversation between the lady and the ambassador that told him it was time to travel again.  This would be a long trip to a place very different from anywhere he’d ever been before.  The flight to get there would take 20 hours,  which Buck wasn’t looking forward to…

The Itinerary

The trip will last from April 8 – May 15^th heading  southwest  to northeast with 5 days on land at the start (Sydney) then boarding a princess cruise ship for the remainder.

Buck was getting good at travelling and was able to get ready within minutes…

R-r-r-r-r-eady Mate  !