Ducks, the Talmud and Symbolism

Not our ducks, but they looked exactly like this.
Fell all over themselves like little acrobats trying to scramble behind mom.

This morning as I was taking the girls to school we saw a mother duck and her eight baby ducklings trying to cross a major street here in the Westside. She kept snarling traffic as she would cross, get half way and then cross back again. Some drivers waited patiently, some tried to scoot her back to the side of the road (the wrong side of the road), while others crossed the double yellow line to go around the traffic, oblivious to what was taking place.

Leto looked miserable as the situation unfolded and Samantha looked equally sad and concerned. I called non-emergancy and they connected me with wildlife SPCA officers who told me they couldn't be there unless an officer was there to direct traffic.

WHAT!? You mean like this?

They could all be dead in the next five minutes with morning rush hour just beginning.







This moment made me think of the saying, "If not I, who? If not now, when?"

I also had recently read that the Talmud says, "Man has three friends on whose company he relies. First, wealth - which goes with him only while good fortune lasts. Second, his relatives - they go only as far as the grave and leave him there. The third friend, his good deeds, go with him beyond death."

It was then that I decided to pulled over and with the help of a passing cyclist and a nurse from the Mental Health services clinic across the street, herded the mother and her babies to the river side of the street. The cyclist and I high fived. The women in the car that stopped cheered. The nurse remarked "Well that's enough good deed doing for a weeks worth of mornings." and I got to see two very relieved, excited and happy girls in the van.

Mr. Duck and the new marigolds

When Bob and I had purchased the couch it came with a number of tacky items. Including this ceramic duck. So more orange being thrown my way. And now ducks?!

Ducks, like geese, share the same symbolism of transition due to their migratory nature. They also represent honesty, simplicity, resourcefulness and sensitivity.

This leaves me to wonder two things.

One: The Talmud's phrase, "Teach your son, teach your son's son." Mother's and their children and teachable moments. Even the scary moments in life can be got through with the help of family and strangers.

Two: How will all of those duck-like attributes come into play and when?