Monday, July 30, 2007

Ducks



I know kind of a cheesy title but I think that this post is going to be cheesy too.
Today, before entering the local Walmart I noticed two good samaritans trying to corral a mama and her baby ducklings into cardboard boxes. They were so cute, newly hatched they were still yellow feathered and snuggled close to their mama. I was drawn to this action as I thought about the place this mother had decided to nest. This is a Walmart not close to any water, there is not ever really a sufficient place to put a nest even. I'm sure had the babies and mother stayed in this parking lot nest that they surely would have died. However, these kind samaritans decided to save them from their untimely death.
We have a family of ducks that travels through our back yard from one pond to another. Every spring she quacks with her babies while crossing our road. Every once in a while she holds up morning traffic while drivers honk and flip her the bird. My oldest daughter always gets annoyed by this, "my goodness, they are just ducks Mama. They are so cute. Why are the cars honking?" My daughter has learned that baby ducks and their mamas are so cute and in need of rescuing. She is only 6.
When we lived at the lake we had a duck that took up residence near and around our pier. We named him Bert. He was a little different than all the other ducks because he was a cross between a farm duck and a mallard duck. He couldn't fly it seemed because he stayed during the winter. Bert never had a nest of eggs, never had a mate, never even seemed female. One day Bert showed up with babies. We were never sure where he got them because they were older, not yellow any longer, and he was a wonderful mother. They all lived. He taught them how to be ducks.
A day thinking about ducks.

1 comment:

Jen Barney said...

You are so ducky.....