I’m Fixing to Get My Ducks in a Row

I’m fixing to get my ducks in a row.

Or is it, get your ducks lined up? Maybe it’s get your ducks in order.

I don’t know which one, but I do know that today, April 28, is the 149th day of the year, and it’s time to get my ducks in a row.
Speaking of today’s date, if today is your birthday you are in good company. George I, King of England was born on this day in 1660. So was Carrol Baker in 1931, the actress from Pennsylvania who starred in The Carpetbaggers, Baby Doll and Harlow. And Gladys Knight in 1944 from Atlanta who sung Last Train to Georgia.

But I digress. I was talking about getting your ducks in a row, which means to put things in order, to organize things, to handle the details of something in preparation for an important event or occasion.

I’ve read of a couple of possible origins. One of them involves bowling. In America the pins were different than the European game of tenpins and they were called “duckpins.” The pens needed to be set up by hand after each ball, and that process led to the expression of “getting your ducks in a row.” It is also attributed to mother ducks lining up their ducklings behind them before setting out. Maybe the first origin is more likely.

They certainly had their ducks in order on this day in 1937 in San Francisco when the Golden Gate Bridge opened to vehicular traffic. It opened ahead of schedule and under budget.

There I go, digressing again. What I need to do is keep my mind on the present and try to get my ducks in a row.

The trouble is I just got too many “Ducks.” I started out making a list, but that was just too tedious. What I needed to do was line things up in my mind and then take some action.

My mental list included water pressuring and painting my dock, putting out pine straw in my flower beds, putting some Round-up on all my weeds, repairing some split boards on my deck, painting my house, writing the next chapter in my current book, fixing my lawn mower, hang some new blinds on all the windows, put my bulbs from last year in pots, put my travel schedule together and make some reservations, put my winter clothes up, clean the carpets, clean out my gutters, and put out my tomato plants.

Now I had to prioritize all my “Ducks” and figure out which one to line up first. I thought about it long and hard and finally decided there was 217 days remaining until the end of the year, and all those other “Ducks” could just wait their turn.

The important things in life are what really count, so I’m fixing to put out my tomato plants!