In recent conversation via e-mail with a reader I shall leave unnamed, there was shock and surprise that the above picture was of my collection of rubber duckies.

Believe me, nobody is more surprised than myself at the size of my flock... but how did it start? Ah, now THAT is a fine question. I remember that day as if it was yesterday...
(cue 'flashback' music)

I was a senior at Duck U., the very place I work at now, and one of my friends had had a death in the family. She was quite saddened by the loss, and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. I nipped off to We 'b Toys to look for something silly and cute... and found a duckie. It just yelled "I'll help her," so it made the trip back to the dorm and found its way into her hands.

She carried that duckie with her EVERYWHERE for the next week. After the funeral, she presented me with, as she put it, a "thank you duckie." That duckie, named "Scooter," is still in my flock, as a matter of fact... here's a not-so-great photo of him, from the original used above:

After that, people began to give me duckies... for Christmas, my birthday, as a thank you for a 'job well done' after a difficult lighting design, whatever.

That's how the flock began... but it really took off just a few years ago. For example, in one year, I added nearly 50 duckies to the flock. It went from a small group that fit on a single shelf to what you see up top. Nowadays, it takes nearly two hours to clean them; about a third of them need to be cleaned with a (really) soft toothbrush.

So, that's the story of The Pond's Flock. They never fail to bring a smile to my face after a long day, and isn't that the point?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:50 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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