Pond Thaw

Winter has the pond locked up, and the ducks are standing about on the bank waiting for it to end. Tiny, our white call duck, rides a floating log along the bottom of the pond. You steer the log, skim a pebble up into the ice, and catch it again on the way down before it sinks. Off the end of the log it flies away at an angle; off the middle, straight up. Thin ice breaks at once, thick ice cracks first, old blue ice takes three knocks, and rocks never break at all. Frozen leaves drop feathers worth catching, such as a longer log or a second pebble.

As each patch opens, call ducks and mallards hop off the bank and paddle out into it, and once the thaw comes a hen brings her ducklings out in a line. Nobody gets hurt: a duck the pebble passes just tips up and dabbles. The long game runs through fifteen ponds and five seasons, Deep Winter to Early Spring, and Today’s pond is a single pond for everyone, played against the clock. It’s quick to pick up and suits anyone with a steady hand. The quacks are our own ducks, recorded at the pond; Ducklark is just a little studio in New York, out on Long Island. Free, in the browser, whenever you have a few minutes. For the scoring and every feather, see how to play Pond Thaw.