Rubber Duckie at the Beach

For my 17th birthday, my little brother gave me a Rubber Duckie. He knew how much I love Sesame Street, and he since that moment, Rubber Duckie has gone with me on every trip I've been on. As a result, he's been to many places in North America and Europe that some of my own actual family members haven't been to, and I ended up with a habit of taking pictures of him in those places. This was before Flat Stanley or the Traveling Garden Gnome or some of the others. I have to assume they got the idea from me. Because I'm a superstar.

Rubber Duckie has been to a lot of places, but one thing that's pretty consistent with him is that he doesn't actually like the water. It probably goes back to an incident on the Rhine River when I almost lost the little guy--ever since, he hasn't really trusted water. Or me. He has nearly caused a few incidents, like when he was seen as a security threat in NYC, or when he made a security guard wet their pants in Washington DC, and I've gotten "the look" from several thousand people as I'm putting him into position near various landmarks. "The look" is basically, "what is that guy doing--oh. Oh. He has Special Needs. Don't stare, Beth--don't stare!"

These pictures are of Rubber Duckie on the beach at Del Mar, near San Diego. It's one of our favorite beach places to go as a family. We're about 800 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, but if we were closer, we'd totally be beach people. In between the water, the sun, and the sand...we can't stay away. Even Rubber Duckie splashed around a little bit. But not too much.

Reflections of a Duck

Each time we go to the beach, we build at least one super-sized sandcastle...this was Rubber Duckie's.

A duck's home is his castle. Or in this case, his castle is his home. More soon!