duck carving

You know, there is that book at the used book store at ventura beach that I always seem to find, its about carving wooden ducks. All kinds of ducks, and the carvings are life-like and beautiful. And I wonder how many corners were cut for this book to be published and lay forgotten in a pile in front of me? The photographs look unprofessional, domestic backgrounds accidentally spill into the frames. But someone is proud of that book. Maybe even a whole family. I don’t steal those books ever. In the same town, a few storefronts away and across a busy street, there is an antique store. It houses the best collection of snapshots I have ever come across. I steal those. I call them my mystery women, and include them in collages. I don’t know why I like to steal those, or why the method of acquisition is even relevant. But those mystery women are sirens on the rocks of obsolete junk. They inspired me recently to make watercolor paintings of my favorite thrift stores. I wonder if that’s been done, I’ll google it before I end the paragraph.