We went to Duck Park in Santa Monica and a mama duckling had given birth to 6 chicks within just a few hours. The pond is hard to get out of and many of the ducklings just couldn't do it. Laurel was worried for their longevity. When we returned to the pond a couple hours later there were 4, and they had made their way out of the water. Some kids told us that 2 of them had been attacked by predators. Watching the ducks struggle just to get onto dry land - and their mom couldn't do it for them - really made me think about how brutal and unforgiving nature is. We have a lot of distractions from that, but an animal's young scarcely has a fighting chance. Then we saw a turtle and that brightened things up.