Walden Pond and the one legged Willy the Duck.
Saturday July 28th around 3pm. I am sitting at home wondering whatever happened to my friend who is supposed to call me around 1pm. The call never materialized and there was no response to my call and voice mail. I was looking outside, it was dark, windy. I could see the thunder clouds hanging low like a low hanging fruit, ready to be plucked anytime. You never know whether its going to be good or bad. Before I know the sky opened up and it came down heavily. I could simply feel the warm summer rain hitting the warm concrete slabs and the smell rain water mixing up with the soil It reminded me of monsoon season back home in India.
Before I know my friend Kristen IMed me and asked me whether I would like to go to Walden Pond in Concord, MA. I was like geese, its raining, its cloudy and do you think we will enjoy the pond? Something stuck with me and I said, let us do Walden pond.
The journey started with me driving to Somerville to pickup my friend, the sky was opening up and stopping at its will. The streets were filled with flash flood at some places and it was getting worse. But anyhow, I picked up my friend and we were on our way to the pond.
Little after 20 mins of drive, we reached the pond. The person at the gate who was selling tickets, warned us that swimming was not allowed. I wasn’t prepared to go swimming, somehow it didn’t strike me that we could swim in the pond. perhaps the next time. We didn’t mind paying the entry fee and before we know we were walking towards the pond. The sky was gloomy, it was drizzling a little. The beach area was sparsely dotted with some families and some kids. The kids were not allowed to enter the water. I could see the disappointment in the kids faces and also the disappointed parents who had a hard time controlling the kids from running in to the water.
The rain stopped and we spread our beach towels ( Thanx Kristen) and got our picnic stuff out and sat down. That is when I noticed a flock of wild ducks in the lake. Around 8 of them swimming close to the beach. I am sure they are used to get fed by the picnickers or pickup the dropped or leftover food on the beach. They were very close to the beach. The moment we opened our snack bags, they started moving towards the beach and landed in the sand. For some reason this female duck was still hanging in the water. Just few steps it would be on the sand, but it didn’t want to land on the beach. I didn’t pay attention to the rest of the ducks and was watching this duck closely. After a few mins, it started to land. It was making some awkward unbalanced moves and it finally hopped on to the sand. That is when I realized this difference, the duck was missing one leg. Yes, its strange but true. A one legged duck. It reminded me of One eyed moody from Harry Potter series. The duck was bit smaller than the rest of the ducks. It slowly hopped towards our towel. Something in its eyes, that drew me closer to the duck. It was not a give me pity, or be sorry for me kind off look. But I am strong, I am not afraid of you and I know why I am here. It had an attitude, the positive attitude. A sense of calmness and being very sure about herself. A sense of pride, that was so positive to look at to experience, to learn, to cherish that moment.
It hung close by my beach towel. I gave her some food and immediately she was all over hopping and getting the food. This attracted the other ducks. One of the dominating male from the group started harassing our one legged willy. I had to shoo them off so that I don’t have to witness any further attack on this poor soul. Now it came clear that even though 8 of them hangout together, our one legged beauty is always sidelined. She may not be able to swim/paddle as fast the other ducks, but still she has the willpower to be with them whether they like it or no. Just a few feet away, alone but not really alone. Together but not really together. I am sure that works out for the ducks and I have no moral right or authority to question this aspect. Since the animal kingdom is all about survival of the fittest, provided we humans don’t destroy their habitat, this must be acceptable given the situation.
It started raining again and all the ducks went back to the lake, we huddled under a tree with our umbrellas and waited for the rain to stop. The park ranger and a police man present said no one is permitted to swim until 5:45PM. The policeman was harassing others stating that only at 6pm people are allowed to swim.
we were sitting there enjoy the cool drizzle and some snacks, our one legged beauty came again. this time she came straight to me and had the courage to eat food from my hands. Kristin was afraid that it may choke to death because it was eating all the dry food. We stopped feeding her. She waited for few moments and posted for some pictures and when realized that we are not going to feed her anymore, there she went. Leaped in to the air and flew like an eagle and landed far away in the lake. Last glimpse I saw was that she was drinking water from the lake or rinsing her beaks.
So long willy. I left the pond for home, but I took some determination and strength with me. We humans can learn a lot from all the living and non living beings. Just keep an open mind and its always before you.
