Make Way for Ducklings?

Oh, sure. When they're tiny little beings of yellow fluff* straggling along after mama, everybody thinks they're cute. "Awwws" and "ohs" follow them everywhere, and anybody who honked at them would get a lot of dirty looks. We even write bestselling classic children's books about stopping traffic for them.

But as soon as they turn into adolescents, they suffer the same fate as others: cute kittens that turn into moody cats and end up on the side of the road, cute puppies that turn into gangly dogs and end up chained in the yard, cute toddlers that turn into sullen teenagers ... well, you get the idea.

And so, five ducklings that used to walk along the grass near the bus stop with their mother just last week:





are now by themselves. This morning they tried to cross Maryland 197 ... and a guy honked at them. I'm serious. He leaned on the horn, like they'd know what that meant. They're ducks, guy. And they aren't flying yet. So they're just going to walk across the street at their own pace.













Yeah, for them it's the same time (about 45 minutes after sunrise). Too bad you live on the clock, and now it's 6:25 instead of 6:40 so it's when you're leaving. Hang on; soon enough they'll either be flying, or they'll be leaving before you.

Get used to it. And make way for ducklings, dammit!


*Although, come to think of it, mallard ducklins aren't yellow, are they? They're all splotchy browns and white, the better to hide with. But fluffy, and little and cute.