There has not been a report on Ludlow the yellow rubber ducky for some time. It should be noted though that Ludlow has not given up on his scheme to change his color. For years he has been wanting to be red or green. He has now lowered his goal and will accept any color except yellow. Ludlow wants to be different but everybody knows that rubber duckies are yellow, and he has been told that so many times his determination to change has grown. The little blonde girl had put him in the living room where the TV is located. He was intrigued by the coming of the Fourth of July. He had noted that there were lots of red, white and blue colors involved. Perhaps, there was a way that he could be patriotic, too!
Ludlow sent out a mental call to Santa who had helped him in the past, but Santa was relaxing in The Villages, Florida, where he had a house. Santa was having fun playing water polo and did not hear Ludlow. It most likely would not have made any difference as Santa was one of those who told Ludlow that rubber duckies were yellow and that he needed to live with it. By the way, all his neighbors in The Villages loved Santa. They told him that he looked like Santa and then everybody had a big laugh before they headed out to golf.
Ludlow decided to ponder on how he might find a way to become red, white or blue – or any combination thereof. In the meantime since he had to listen to the TV, he thought he would see exactly what the Fourth of July was about. He quickly found out that it involved the Declaration of Independence whatever that was. He watched more and soon realized that the day celebrated the great country in which he lived. He was impressed that the citizens through the years had gone through wars, depressions, diseases and other calamities, but had still moved forward. He noted that some had tried to change how the country operated and even wanted to follow other countries where their system was not at the same level as his country.
Ludlow learned what “Freedom” meant and he was impressed. He also learned that maintaining freedom was not always easy. This was the case despite the fact that the Constitution guaranteed certain freedoms, but then some did not like the Constitution and wanted to change it to their way of thinking. The TV screen showed him heroes and scoundrels who were part of the Nation’s fabric. It was obvious that his country had achieved a greatness of a type that no other country possessed. It was a country that people from all over the world wanted to come to and live in – which far exceeded any other country’s attraction.
Ludlow sighed and forgot at least for the moment his desire to change color. Now he wished that he could somehow become a viable part of what he found his country to be. While Ludlow was pondering, the little blonde girl came in with a red, white and blue doily which she placed under Ludlow. He felt that he was now a part of the Fourth of July and that was good.
Ludlow was content – but that was not to say that he would not still try to find a way to change his color.
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com