Friday, May 9, 2014

Make Way For Ducklings . . .

Hays, KS is a city of 21,000 year-round residents, plus 4,800 college students.  By Kansas standards, a mid-sized city.  Not the place where you would expect to see wildlife.  But last weekend, while we were moving our son into his new home, traffic came to a standstill as three ducklings crossed 6th St.  


A kind lady from another vehicle encouraged them to stop dawdling in the street.  Once they safely reached the sidewalk, the set off down Walnut with a determined pace.


The young fowl declined to answer how they came to be in the big city with no parental supervision or where they were headed.

My mind immediately went to Make Way for Ducklings, the 1941 Caldecott Award Winner by Robert McCloskey.  I read it to our children repeatedly when they were young.  I'm sure our copy is still in a box in the basement . . . somewhere.

3 comments:

  1. That's so sweet. I hope they made their way safely.......

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  2. I love the way the ducks reminded you of one of the kids's childhood books - - - is there some symbolism there you think??? Graduating college - first home - - ducklings in street - - - childhood book???

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  3. I positively love that book. And I went to college in the Boston area so the bronze statues of the Mama duck and her eight babies Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack and Quack in Boston Gardens were a real treat to remember, too. Did anyone name the Kansas trio? I'd think Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry would be quite neapolitan, don't you? Maybe they were looking straw to nest with in "Hays".

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