Jan30 Make Way For Ducklings… 2013
Did you ever read that book when you were little? I don’t remember a whole lot from my tiny years, but I do vividly remember my mom reading us kids Make Way For Ducklings…and it was our favorite. It had a green cover and a gold sticker stuck on front from its’ 1941 Caldecott medal. Can we say a classic??? I mean, 1941?
To this day, I have fond memories of going to Trapp Pond in Delaware, all of us 8 or 10 kids {however many we had at the time} and piling out of our 15 passenger van to feed the ducks. My mom must have loved ducks. We were always bringing stale bread along with us to parks and she even enrolled me in an art contest for Ducks Unlimited when I was about 8. It’s my first memory of spending a solid piece of time on something creative.
I was interviewing my friend Shannon the other day on her art {coming on Friday!!!} and she had a special treat planned for the kiddos when we were done. What. A. Surprise. Ducks!!!
These aren’t just any ducks though. Their mother died before these babies had even hatched and one of Shannon’s neighbors lovingly put them in an incubator and raised them till they peeked out of their tiny shells.
She’s been feeding them since then with a special mixture of lettuce and grains and fruits {Apparently, it’s a myth that bread is good for ducks.} Every, single, day. What a labor of love!
Shannon pitches in when her neighbor is out of town and so we tagged along for the experience. What a beautiful one! We called, “Babies!!!” and they all came waddling right up…just like they were expecting us. We held out our hands full of the grain mixture and they tickled the kids’ fingers. Just magical!
I love it when my kids experience nature like that. They soak it in like it is just so natural. So effortless. Being apart of this big wide world. And I wish I were that comfortable. That soaking it in came easily for me.
What I have learned from my kids is this: stop and see the beauty in this world. Just stop. And take it all in. We are barraged with bad news over the radio and the television and Facebook every day of our lives. We are assaulted from every side. And sometimes I think we forget that there is more to the created world than that.
Stop and enjoy the good. There is good, you know. God made the world and said, “It is good.” And I believe that with all my heart. That He made it for us to enjoy. He made it colorful and interesting and full of surprises…and He didn’t have to. He made nature complex and intricate, full of details that only the eyes willing to see will notice.
And it is good.
May you see the beauty in the everyday today…and look around to see the good.
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Beautiful post, Marybeth! I had two special ducks in my life… They were both named Pete! :-D
Pete #1 was a duckling we hatched in the kitchen at my grandparents when I was four, and later SHE had a dozen ducklings of her own. Then, when the girls and I were raising baby chicks here at home, a neighbor dropped off a day-old duckling they found on the road, and of course, it had to be named Pete too! SHE lived with us for a couple of years before she took off with a handsome Mallard.
Did you know that Robert McCloskey bought a bunch of ducklings to live in his apartment when he was illustrating “Make Way for Ducklings?” He wanted to watch them up close to get them just right in the illustrations!
Glad your kids had such a great experience!
Kim :-)
Kim, that is so neat! I’ve always wanted to see your little farm and meet your animals. And I had no idea that McCloskey had ducklings in his apartment…how cool is that?! If you ever have another duck in your life, you need to post pictures so we can all “meet” him. :)