Oh, what a Wednesday!! It all began on Saturday when my Mom and I came up with the bright idea to get my Dad swans for Christmas. Over the past year or two, we have heard my Dad casually mention that he would enjoy having swans at the pond at our farm. On top of that, we went to a family friend’s beautiful wedding in October 2010 that had swans in the background of the reception. So, with those ideas in mind, we found a great and reputable waterfowl breeder online, and the rest is history.
We made the commitment to purchase a pair of swans on Monday. Meanwhile, my mom and I are looking at each other like “Are we really doing this?!” Needless to say, we really did. Never a dull moment. In trying to decide which swans to get and how old they should be, etc., the breeder told us about the perfect pair we actually ended up with. They are 3 years old (FYI- Swans mate for life, and they don’t usually breed until their third spring.), and they have also been raised around young children. Not only will they eat from your hand, but they also allowed the breeder’s young sons to pet them. EKKKK! Hopefully, these lovely birds will come to love us as much as did their original family and will pet them and love them all the same.
Wednesday’s adventure began at 8:20 am when we hit the road to Valdosta with dog carrier and swan food in the Escalade. Never did it once occur to us that maybe we ought to have taken a pick up truck, where the swans would not have been in an enclosed space with us. Along the drive, Mom and I periodically burst into hysterical laughter because we could not believe that we were actually buying swans! SWANS!
We met the breeder in Valdosta, halfway for both of us, in the Krystal’s parking lot. Only good things happen in the Krystal’s parking lot, right? Right! Well, we switched the swans from his dog carrier to ours. As the breeder said, “Now, they are going to be a little sassy, since they aren’t big fans of being in the carriers.” Mom and I looked at each other thinking, “Great!”
The swans did pretty well on the hour and half drive home. They didn’t really hiss or freak out, which was a great sign for us. The whole way home the swans would make a peep here and there—Nothing too crazy. Until…..Yep, until we heard the dreaded sound. I’m going to try to keep it as clean as I possibly can here. Let’s just say we heard a farting noise. (In this case, “farting noise” is clean for what it actually sounded like.) As the green fog filled the inside of the SUV, Mom and I could not roll down our windows fast enough to inhale the clean air. At one point, I thought for sure I wasn’t going to make it without throwing up. Our solution- We rode all the way back to Albany with the windows down, sunroof back, air blasting, and seat heaters on full force. By the time we pulled in our driveway, our noses were sore with the smell and little white feathers were everywhere!!
The next step of the plan was to get the entire Carr and Lane crew out to the farm for the big unveil. This is much easier said than done. Of course, the swans were literally freaking out on the 15 minute drive out the farm. Bless their hearts, they were so ready to get out of their carrier. And, of course, it starts pouring (I mean pouring!) down rain right we turn into the farm’s entrance. Mom, Matt, and I are scrambling to hide the swans in the back of the car from Dad, and we were waiting for Kelly and Abigail to get there. Whew! I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we did. Kelly, Abigail, and I kept Dad preoccupied in the cabin while Mom and Matt unloaded the swans in the kennel to the dock, where we would set them free, where we would release them to their new home.
It was truly a great Christmas present moment. Everyone walked out onto the dock, checked out the swans, and then, we let them go. I know they could not have been more excited to get into that water. Dad was utterly surprised, and Abigail was trying so hard to figure out what these big white things were. Since she can’t say “swan,” she said “bird” instead. We’ll work on “swan.” After we released them, the pair swam around the pond checking it all out. It was so sweet to watch because they stayed side by side. We could just tell they would be happy. Yay!
For those of you who don’t know, Carr Farms, the farm that has been in the family since 1989, has a beautiful pond on it. Carr Farms means more to our family than I can even put into words. As I told Dad tonight, I can always go there, and it feels like home. Stephen, Kelly, and I grew up there, and passing on the tradition, it is so fun to watch Abigail grow up going there as well. Now, we will have two more fantastic reasons to spend time at Carr Farms. We all cannot wait for these swans to become part of our family and for the swans to start a family of their own on the farm.
