J & the Ducks

This morning my partner J had to leave for work ninety minutes early because of a medical appointment. She works in Doylestown, PA, but needed to be in South Philadelphia for an 8:15AM visit. After that, she needed to trek all the way up to D-Town for work, then return back home again after finishing long after 5PM. We live in an area called Plymouth Meeting, and its right in the middle of both of these destinations. Being centrally located is usually advantageous for us, but today it was not such a good thing.

She was not happy about the situation, and this was easily discernable by the look on her face after the alarm buzzer roused us both in the early morning darkness. Her hair was going one way, her face another and her body yet some other way.

She got her self ready in a flash and made it out the door, into our hearse (yes, we drive a hearse) and down the driveway into the morning fray of rushing cars and drivers. I waved goodbye, then hooked the dogs onto their leashes and took them outside. After we returned, I fed them as usual, made some tea for myself, and began to work.

Time flew as I typed away in front of the computer, and I assumed that since I had not received a phone call from J, she had made it to her appointment on time. The phone rang at 9AM and I quickly answered it. “Hello,” I said. No “hello” back, but instead I heard this… “I saved eight lives today!”

It was J, and she was bursting right through the phone. Her excitement was contagious and as she said it again, I immediately went into the living room to turn on the television to see if there was a report about whatever accident she was telling me about. It was not yet time for another traffic report and she began to speak again, so I listened.

She said she had been driving eastbound on the Schuylkill expressway, a two lane highway through Philadelphia that sees an incredible amount of rapid commuter traffic throughout the day. Traffic really increases during morning and evening rush hours, and today was no exception. As she neared the Philadelphia zoo, she noticed something amazing on the right side of the road near the concrete barrier – a row of baby ducks walking single file as fast as possible on the highway! She said they were obviously frightened and hugging the barrier closely, and were heading for a construction zone on their harrowing journey down the busy road. J instinctively pulled over to the right in order to block traffic, and to her surprise, some other motorists began doing the same thing in order to create a “safe duck zone” for the little ones.

She sprung out of her car. Just then a Philadelphia Police cruiser pulled up behind with lights flashing. A female officer jumped from the car, saw what was going on and burst out laughing and smiling as she began to help. “I thought that’s what they told me on the radio!” she said. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine what the official dispatch code number is for a line of eight baby ducks trapped on an expressway!

As the officer went to find something large and secure enough to put all of the ducks in, J and the other drivers were busily trying to coax certain ducks to come out, as some of them had darted to safety under the stopped cars. Early morning commuters turned into lifesavers as they helped get our little fuzzy friends into the box the policewoman now carried. She thanked everyone for their help, and explained that she was going to drive the little ones to a safe area of Fairmount Park and set them free far from the dangerous highway.

I was truly amazed at this rush hour miracle, and I was even happier for J because I could tell she was experiencing that fantastic rush of uplifting spiritual infusion that accompanies doing for others.

After she finished telling me the story, I said, “Your day started a little rough, but it’s much better now, isn’t it?” “Yes it is!” she said. I could hear her smile.

I was so proud of her for the way she responded to the little ducks in danger. Even though she was trying to make it to an appointment on time during Friday morning rush hour traffic, she helped save our little friends who are now probably telling their side of this happy story to the other ducks in the park!

It’s amazing how God, the universe, Karma, or whatever you’d like to call the power that shapes destiny can do. A day that began dragging in the dark is now one of the brightest we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. And to top it all off, tomorrow is J’s birthday. What a great gift of the spirit! Awesome…