Saturday, July 02, 2011

Meet Miller the Mallard


If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you might have already seen this photo but as we're heading into the 4th of July I thought it would be fun to post the story behind this picture here on the blog.

Meet Miller the Mallard. We were driving up the Ogden Canyon and suddenly, my husband and I both saw this little guy waddling alongside the 2-lane highway all by his lonesome. On one side of him was the highway and the other a cement barrier to keep cars from falling into the Ogden River, which is at a record high thanks to all our snowfall this past winter. This is a very dangerous, narrow, winding canyon and biking and walking along it is frowned upon. But I couldn't let my husband, Matt, just drive by so I talked him into stopping. Matt found a place to pull over (wide enough spots are few and far between) and he drove up and down to try and protect me when I was on the narrowest of stretches. (I was wearing very high heels because we'd just come home from a party and I still have a blister but it was worth it.) When I found the duckling, who my husband later told me was on his back with his little legs and huge feet up in the air on one of his drive-bys), he was soaking wet. I thought about just putting him on the other side of the cement barrier but there was a huge drop to the river. So I decided I'd take him to the truck, where my husband and three sons were eagerly waiting to see him. While we were debating what to do with him, Miller, my oldest, mentioned that his friends in the near-by town of Huntsville live right on the lake and have a bunch of ducks that they feed and take care of. So we thought it would be worth a try. The dad and his sons were all out on the front lawn playing football when we pulled up. We could tell right away they knew what to do with the little guy; they had a place for him, food he could eat, and a wonderful yard in which to grow stronger. They named him Miller, after my son, and invited us to come and visit anytime.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July, American friends!

7 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

How absolutely adorable! And what a great story. Thanks for sharing this, Wendy, and have a great 4th, too!

Erica said...

Awww, Miller is so absolutely adorable! That's such an awesome story too :)

Senator said...

AWWWWWWW That is sooo cute!

Duckie!

Trish Milburn said...

That is such a sweet story, Wendy! And he's adorable. I think you earned yourself some wonderful karma helping out this little guy.

Wendy Toliver said...

I'll have to go visit Miller soon and take a photo so we can all see how he's growing. :)

Marley Gibson said...

Awwwwwwww!!!!! Awesome story, Wendy! Now I want a duck of my own...although I don't think the kittens would agree. LOL!

stephhale said...

He is adorable, Wendy! And well named too. My sons and I had to stop in the middle of a busy intersection a few weeks ago to let a mommy duck and her seven babies waddle past. It was amazing to see how many people's morning was brightened by that sight.