We can’t duck our sense of goodness

Alocal woman named Kay Murray was on a Holland America cruise to Alaska this summer when she heard a story about ducks crossing a busy road. When she got back to Phoenix, she contacted me. Naturally. Cruise ships provide many entertainment programs for passengers, and in this instance, a member of the crew read the duck story to an audience. Afterward, Kay asked if she might get a copy. She was told she should contact the author: me.

Kay says she wants to keep a copy of the story in the journal she kept of the trip, as a reminder for herself and as a lesson for her six grandchildren.

Individuals like Kay have periodically reminded me of the story about the ducks over the past 10 years. (A number of them, like her, were cruise passengers.) I wrote the column in 2006, a time when there was a lot of divisiveness in the country, in the state, in our beautiful desert paradise. Sort of like today.

One day in ’06, some ducks crossed the road and reminded us of who we really are.

We need to be reminded of that sometimes. And sometimes, we need to be reminded of the reminder. The weekend after a visit from President Donald Trump is one of those times. The story Kay heard on the cruise ship reads:

It was dusk on a clear, sunny day, and we were headed north on 32nd Street between Camelback Road and Lincoln Drive. The road undulates among desert hills in that 11⁄2-mile stretch, rising from Camelback to the intersection with Lincoln at the foot of Piestewa Peak.

It’s a lovely boulevard upon which southbound travelers can linger on a view of the skyscrapers of downtown Phoenix, which rise in the distance like chess pieces. Mean- See MONTINI, Page 2E