Duck Love

Ducks mate for life. And even when a suitable female is unavailable, drakes seem to cultivate highly affective lifelong relationships with other drakes. During our walk along the shore of Lake Erie yesterday, we saw these two couples just hanging out, dredging, and enjoying each others' company.

One night a drake had a dream. He dreamed that he was walking along the beach with his friend. Across the sky he saw scenes from his life. For each scene he saw two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him and the other to his friend. When the last scene of his life had flashed before him, he looked back at all the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the lowest and saddest times of his life. This really bothered the drake, so he asked his friend about it:

"Dude, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

His friend replied, "My duck, my precious drake, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."