Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey was one of my favorite childhood books. It is the Official Children's Book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The beautiful illustrations were executed in charcoal then lithographed on zinc plates.
Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack were treasured, feathered friends. (I thought Ouack was cool because she or he had two syllables (as I read it) as well as three vowels in a row!) Here they are, in bronze, created by Nancy Schön in the Boston Public Garden with Mrs. Mallard in Boston, USA, sporting pink pussy hats.
My friends and I are working on getting all our ducks in a row tonight for tomorrow's Denver Women's March. Organizing, making signs, hats, and banners, and preparing for the day has helped us keep focus on important issues like climate change (which has suddenly disappeared from the Presidential sites). Yeah, sure, that's one way to get rid of it. . . (but the temperature data say otherwise, showing 2016 as the hottest year since records have been regularly kept):
Here's hoping for a peaceful march in Denver tomorrow with lots of nasty, wonderful women and men energy. We may even see the big blue bear in a pink pussy hat at the Denver Convention Center.
I will be marching with my grandmother, Irene's, strength and spirit. She was a suffragette who walked in the Boston and NYC marches for the right for women to vote. I am marching for many reasons but this sign sums up a major one:
Hoping things will come full circle and stabilize for those more northerly polar bears and for the mallards and ducklings in many ways in the weeks and months to come. Seeing those bears all in a row on giant ice fields in polar climes would make many Mama Bears content.
Here's to a productive, calm day wherever you are,
Steph
Some images (one for each duckling and one each for Mrs. and Mr. Mallard) from the powerful Denver March of over 200,000 women, men, babes in arms, and canines. Enjoy!
^^^"Trumpeters against Trump"
And, as promised from before the march:
Badlands National Park goes rogue with climate facts from the official Twitter account:
This! --->
Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack were treasured, feathered friends. (I thought Ouack was cool because she or he had two syllables (as I read it) as well as three vowels in a row!) Here they are, in bronze, created by Nancy Schön in the Boston Public Garden with Mrs. Mallard in Boston, USA, sporting pink pussy hats.
My friends and I are working on getting all our ducks in a row tonight for tomorrow's Denver Women's March. Organizing, making signs, hats, and banners, and preparing for the day has helped us keep focus on important issues like climate change (which has suddenly disappeared from the Presidential sites). Yeah, sure, that's one way to get rid of it. . . (but the temperature data say otherwise, showing 2016 as the hottest year since records have been regularly kept):
Here's hoping for a peaceful march in Denver tomorrow with lots of nasty, wonderful women and men energy. We may even see the big blue bear in a pink pussy hat at the Denver Convention Center.
I will be marching with my grandmother, Irene's, strength and spirit. She was a suffragette who walked in the Boston and NYC marches for the right for women to vote. I am marching for many reasons but this sign sums up a major one:
Hoping things will come full circle and stabilize for those more northerly polar bears and for the mallards and ducklings in many ways in the weeks and months to come. Seeing those bears all in a row on giant ice fields in polar climes would make many Mama Bears content.

Here's to a productive, calm day wherever you are,
Steph
Some images (one for each duckling and one each for Mrs. and Mr. Mallard) from the powerful Denver March of over 200,000 women, men, babes in arms, and canines. Enjoy!
^^^"Trumpeters against Trump"
And, as promised from before the march:
Badlands National Park goes rogue with climate facts from the official Twitter account:
This! --->
I posted the following on Facebook on April 12:
ReplyDeleteOne day when he was about 2, our son asked us, out of the blue, "What's Beckett?" Theatre of the Absurd was definitely not on his bedtime story list, so we asked him what he meant. "Like Michael beckett the ducklings to cross the street."
Many years later, my wife and I were in Boston for our son's wedding. We were up early, so we took a walk to the Public Garden to tell Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack that Alexander was getting married.
"Make Way for Ducklings" turns 75 today. Happy birthday!
jan, what a delightful story. Did you then she'd a happy tear in front of the ducks?
DeleteDid your son like Ouack? I always said "Oooo-ack."
I imagine those ducklings will "beckett" to your granddaughter soon.
^^^ Oh, autocorrect! shed shed shed. . .
DeleteI hadn't known about Trump's Bee Movie plagiarism. Of course, it's the least of his crimes.
ReplyDeleteGood luck putting pink pussy hats on those polar bears!
Enjoy the march!
I fear we are headed for Colony Collapse Disorder in more species than just bees.
DeletePutting tiny pussy hats on buzzing bees would certainly bee (sic) a sting operation.
Thanks!
Unfortunately the Bee Movie plagiarism is an internet myth, though delightful. According to Snopes those lines don't exist in the movie.
DeleteThanks, eco. But we're in the Trump Era now, and facts are so last century. We're not supposed to pay attention to what he says, anyway, just what's in his cold, dark heart.
DeleteThat is a fact! And Trump was hanging out in the NY clubs when the Talking Heads were on the scene...
DeleteFacts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape
Thanks for the Snopes check, eco. I've added 8 images, one for each duckling, from the 200,000+ Denver March today. Quite a powerful day!
DeleteIt was heartening that about 10-15 percent of the marchers were men supporting strong woman.
Delete^^^ women
Delete200,000 is great, WW! They estimate 60,000 for Oakland, hard to tell from the where I was. But it was the biggest march I've seen here since the anti-Iraq War march in 2003.
DeleteWe had a much higher percentage of men, I'd guess almost half, or at least 40%. Lots of families, small kids, babies to very senior citizens.
Yes, it was uplifting to see families at the march; those kids will have a good sense of being powerful and a part of a community.
DeleteHere's a compilation of numbers of marchers worldwide.
I will never forget January 21, 2017.
Thanks for that, I was wondering whether things were happening in the American middle. Glad to see there were good turnouts in Kansas City, Omaha, and Oklahoma City, to name a few.
DeleteYes, great to see the numbers so high in middle America.
Delete1,000 people turned out to march on a snowy day in Telluride, Colorado. That is nearly half the population of 2319 (2013 census). Just the facts. No "alternative facts" allowed, thanks anyway, KAC.
Removed the bee image. Just the facts, Ma'am.
Delete"Kakistocracy" has been mentioned previously on this blog. Tomorrow's acrostic puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon introduced me to the similar "boobocracy", which may have been coined by H. L. Mencken. But pink pussy hats marching against boobocracy may not be the right image for the moment.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Though, I've always thought breasts is such a useful word for boobs.
DeleteI do have another image which I'll post post-March. . .
I posted it.
DeleteThose expressions. . .
ReplyDeleteI believe that's what they're referring to here.
DeleteAh, yes, must be. . .
DeleteI added another sign above, within the main text. It's so good.
I loved "Make Way for Ducklings" as a child, as well as "Blueberries for Sal."
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the successful march in Denver. my daughter Trinity and I marched in Binghamton NY with about 3,000 others. No match for the larger cities in numbers, but a show of solidarity with Washington, with you, and with so many places around the globe. Let's keep our energy up!
Yes! So glad you marched in Binghamton, Joanne!
DeleteYou're always trying to finish my sentences. . .
ReplyDeleteFor your friend who wants evidence-based science after peer review:
ReplyDeleteCalling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data. (Via the Chronical of Higher Education.)
^^^Chronicle^^^
DeleteInteresting. I wonder if the authors will indeed be presenting their proposed class at the U of Washington. . .
DeleteThe official National Park Service account for Badlands is going rogue and tweeting about climate change (see screenshot above). There's a reason the park is called baaaaad.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the Ministry of Truth quickly deleted those tweets. All social media at the EPA has been shut down since last Friday.
DeleteThat's why the screenshot feature on my phone is getting lots of use these days. Once on the internet, it lives on forever.
DeleteI am working on an article for this week's Partial Ellipsis of the Sun that focuses on sea level rise. It focuses on EPA data; I will not reveal my source. . .but you folks are clever enough to connect the dots (with dashes). That must be why Morse code has both; - --- -- can be dashing in the presence of his dotty friend .... . ... ...
And then, most of us are a combination of both, in the big picture of the universe...
... - . .--. ....
Resistance is NOT futile: Please follow, follow, follow @AltNatParkSer !
Delete^^^ See tweet posted above ---> "The thing the dystopian novels could never predict was the sudden uprising of the National Park Service social media managers."
DeleteRange on, rangers!
Reminds me of this quote.
DeleteIndubitably.
DeleteScientists Are Also Planning A March on Washington
DeleteGreat PEOTS subject, Word Woman. Some people (many who alas are now in high places) seem not to understand that science is not something one takes on faith... science is something based on fact. And NOT "alternative fact."
ReplyDeleteLet us keep up the good fight.
LegoWhoseFavoriteDucklingIsTheGreenAndGoldPack
Absolutely, Lego!
DeleteAntisocial behavior
ReplyDeleteFascinating, Paul. Thanks.
Delete"Walking jellybeans" could turn one off the Reagan treat though.
I am amazed at how often our sense of smell is tied to a variety of important things, especially since it is the sense that likely gets the most disrepect.
Mary Tyler Moore
ReplyDeleteSaddened to hear of Mary Tyler Moore's passing. As Mary Richards, a journalist willing to go to jail to protect her sources, she was independent. She was nice, even to crummy first dates. She was kind to her co-workers, to Rhoda and Phyllis, her friends. She was a little sassy, a little spunky. (Mr Grant "I HATE spunk!") She stood up to a country club tennis-playing bigot, who did not want to associate with Rhoda, a Jew. She had her own place with the big 'M.' Her character was such a role model for me.
Maybe she'll catch that flying tam at long last. RIP, MTM.
In case you missed Sam Bee's show last night, check out the epilogue ("Act 4 - We're Gonna Make It After All"). (But, go ahead, watch the whole show; she's great.)
DeleteThanks, jan! Sam is terrific!
DeletePediatricians' Statement
ReplyDeleteThis is depressing! (And it doesn't even involve Trump.)
ReplyDeleteDisheartening, jan. I wonder about the best way to increase the confidence of young girls.
DeleteI thought there was pretty good evidence in favor of single-sex education, but that's a whole other can of worms.
DeleteI dove into the source material a bit more; the change in perceived brilliance happens in girls between 5 (kindergarten) and 7 (first grade). That says to me that something quite significant is happening in the transition from K to 1st grade.
DeleteHmmmmm, more pondering. . .
I was at a Smith College recruiting event last night. Those young women and their parents are quite stressed. It is fun, though, to witness 18-year-old confidence as well as concerns.
Are there report cards in kindergarten?
DeleteThere was no kindergarten in my area when I was a kid, and I'm not a parent, so I'm just wildly guessing.
Friday, January 26, is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire.
ReplyDeleteHere's a tidbit I hadn't known:
Apollo astronauts frequently aligned their spacecraft inertial navigation platforms and determined their positions relative to the Earth and Moon by sighting sets of stars with optical instruments. As a practical joke, the Apollo 1 crew named three of the stars in the Apollo catalog after themselves and introduced them into NASA documentation. Gamma Cassiopeiae became Navi – Ivan (Gus Grissom's middle name) spelled backwards. Iota Ursae Majoris became Dnoces – "Second" spelled backwards, for Edward H. White II. And Gamma Velorum became Regor – Roger (Chaffee) spelled backwards. These names quickly stuck after the Apollo 1 accident and were regularly used by later Apollo crews.
There's a reference to this in this annotated transcript from Apollo 15, which I found fascinating.
Between the Apollo 1 fire on 1/27 and the Challenger disaster on 1/28, late January was not a good time of the year for NASA.
DeleteThe transcipt is fascinating. . .
And Columbia broke up on re-entry on February 1. Though, I think only Challenger was January weather-related.
DeleteNew post on "Working 5 to 9: Foraminifera's Chemical Data Predict Sea Level Rise of Five to NINE Meters" is now up!
ReplyDelete