Optimist-Outlook 2/26/09

Marianna Optimist Club Activities
By Don Jones - February 17, 2009

"It’s a Fowl Hobby" Julian Marsh, Speaks
Left, Marianna Optimist Club Member, and Guest Speaker, Julian Marsh, holds in his hands a carved wooden, Mud Duck Decoy that he artfully carved from a block of Bass Wood and painted to replicate the Mud Duck as it would appear in the wild. Marsh has, not only the ability to skillfully produce such beautifully carved pieces of art, but has an exceptional knowledge of, and appreciation for, natures most beautifully decorated birds.
Marsh’s hobby and obsession is to produce these, works of art, in his garage. Then, he loves to display the decoys at art shows and museums around the country, and will occasionally sell them, if the price is right. Annually, he is able to produce approximately fifty such pieces of art, averaging about one a week. Each piece has its own intrinsic beauty and value according to the taste of the individual admirer. However, most collect the carvings to decorate their dens, and living rooms, and not for their original intended use; hunting.
Marsh described the Mud Duck he holds, above, as a close relative to the very colorful Mallard Duck (Right). But, as one can see, the Mud Duck is somewhat challenged in the, colored, feather department, when compared to his more colorful cousin, the Mallard Duck. Additionally, as food, the Mud Duck is seriously challenged in the taste department, as well. It seems, as Marsh described it, the Mud Duck sort of taste as the name implies; like mud. He suspects they taste like mud because of their table manners; they dig crustaceans and other small animals out of the mud bottoms of shallow lakes, and ponds with their rather large and flat beak, and swallow them without straining out much of the mud, which apparently must effect the taste of the Mud Duck, when eaten.
Left, Marsh held the audience spell bound as he picked up each decoy from the table and described, in great detail, the habits and unique characteristics of the more than fifty species of wild duck inhabiting North America and Canada. Marsh confessed that he didn’t know exactly why he held such admiration and curiosity for the ducks. However, he surmised that it could be because, as a boy, his grandfather would show-off his rather large collection of decoy ducks. Then, at the age of twelve, he asked his grandfather if he could use a couple of his decoys to go hunting with, and the grandfather’s response was, "Go make your own decoys!" Well, he did, and has been making them ever since; a little better each time.
Assuredly, Marsh’s grandfather would be proud of him today, if he could only see his decoys and the knowledge of water fowl Marsh has gained since that fateful day, when he was told to, "Make your own decoy." It isn’t just a hobby to Marsh, it’s an obsession. Marsh closed his talk, claiming that he loves every moment of time spent replicating nature’s beautiful water fowl in his garage. Also, he said that he is especially pleased that others appreciate and find his art work interesting and beautiful, too.