Crispy Roast Duck

Yes, I am talking about that wonderful Chinese dish! I grew up eating duck. My father raised 2 kinds of ducks. One for eggs and one for meat. In our back yard he dug up a rather large pond for the ducks to swim in. We fed them in the mornings and in the evenings. As children we chased the ducklings and we got chased by mama ducks. It was fun. We swam with them in the pond and got in trouble with my mother because the pond had a muddy bottom and we were not to get in it. It was meant for the ducks not children. Oh, yes, back to crispy roast ducks. I remember eating them as Dad would bring them home from the Chinese restaurant. They were so tasty and crispy. Mostly it was Dad and I who loved it, the rest of the family did not really like it. I have a compulsive behavior in most every thing. I had not eaten crispy duck since Dad died in 1983. I avoided it all together. For the last few weeks I am on a crispy duck kick. It turns out that there are good places in Clear Lake area to eat good tasty crispy roast duck: I had a smoked duck at 888 Chinese Bistro on El Camino Real, Crispy roast duck at Orient Cafe in South Shore Harbor, duck at Thai Seafood in Webster (near Webster Pres), and Fung Kitchen in Chinatown along route #59. Each of them have a delicious crispy roast duck. Each time I ate this dish Will watched me with puzzled eyes. He watched me the same way mother used to watch Dad and I eat - crispy roast duck! Of course he would not help me eat it. Neither would Joshua. I don't mind eating it alone because somehow eating it makes me feel like I am eating at my father's dinning table all over again. It warms my heart and it gives me comfort. Why am I on this Crispy Duck kick? I don't know for sure. But I do know one thing - my father loved me. God loves me always. People have been asking me, "What are you going to do after CLPC?" I say, "I am looking forward to a real break for some period of time." Now I have one answer to add to it, " I am going to grieve over the death of my mother". I have not had time to do that. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us that: " For everything there is a season; and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embrassing' a time to seek, and a time to loose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. It is so true that one can sweep grief under the carpet for a good long length of time. I did but I will sweep it out during the next few months and will feel it and deal with it by God's grace and love.