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# The Chronicles begin: Part two
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-chronicles-begin-part-two/
- Published: 2008-08-05T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:31:32.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Venice, #archive-import

*By Phyllis Chavez The Quackers*

Editor’s note: Meet the Quackers, three young surf ducks, born and raised in the canals of Venice. Their passion in life: Surfing and saving the earth. Their mission: To ride the waves and spread the word about global warming and the harmful affects of pollution to anyone who will listen.

Have you ever heard of the Beach Boys and the songs they sing about surfing safaris? We think they got that idea from our Grandpa Quacker and his buddy, Jeff! My grandpa told us how he and Jeff traveled up and down the coast looking for “that perfect wave.” They made it sound like a quest, an adventure and a goal that had to be achieved. It was on one of those “safaris” that they met and surfed with “The Duke.” He was as big a legend then as he still is today.By the way,you know that Duke is Duke Kahanamoko, not “The Duke,” John Wayne, right?

We begged my grandpa and Jeff for stories of the “good old days.” We could never hear enough.We would ask them to tell us the same ones, over and over again. In our imaginations, the stories became bigger than life, epic, full color movies.As they wove their tales we would close our eyes.We could actually feel the weight of their old, heavy long boards and the swell of the ocean moving beneath them. When they described catching the waves, we were the ones actually completing the ride. In our bellies we felt tremors of fear but also of excitement as they described surfing with “The Duke” on giant waves that were as tall as buildings. Those stories, so vivid and exciting, irreversibly influenced us and determined our path in life. We wanted nothing else. We had to surf.

I know most ducks don’t surf.We are different, exceptional, one might say. The three of us wanted more from life.There had not been any surfing ducks since Grandpa Quacker’s adventures. We were going to be surfing ducks too! Excitement and adventure was what we craved. None of that “quack, quack, swim, swim,” for us.We needed to bust out of the box! We wanted to use neon and color out of the lines! For us surfing was a way to achieve it all. There was nothing else that gave us that feeling of total freedom. With reverence, we took the old boards out of storage. The ones that my grandpa and his buddy, Jeff, had once, so long ago, carefully fashioned. We dusted them off, waxed them up and as they had once done, we taught ourselves to surf.

When we tasted the salty spray on our bills and felt the wind ruffling our feathers as we caught that first, perfect wave, we felt connected to nature. Could Grandpa and Jeff have experienced this elation? We know they felt the same strong connection with nature and the earth. In our hearts, at that moment, we knew that surfing and saving the earth was naturally entwined and would become our mission in life. After generations in Venice living along the canals,a tragedy befell our family. A duck flu epidemic worked its way through the area, spreading canal by canal. It was a frightening time. It was a sad time. Our feeling of safety and contentment was now replaced by fear and distress. We had to leave. Our hearts ached with the thought of leaving our beloved Venice. It was our ancestral home. How could we leave the place that after all these years had surely become imprinted on our DNA? We were devastated.

The flu was terrible but not our only worry. The authorities, because of the growing epidemic, seemed bent on total duck-o-cide. In the end,we all decided leaving was our best and safest decision. On a moonless night, under the cover of darkness, we slipped away. After so may years of stability,we were forced to migrate again. We had heard many good things about Santa Monica from those who had left before us.We were unsure, we were frightened, but we had no choice. We set out for Santa Monica.

For months after we arrived we mourned for our lost home. We were sure our hearts would break. Our new home was beautiful but different in so many ways from Venice. As time passed, we settled in. Day by day we grew to love it.

We have been here for some time now and feel roots beginning to grow. We still have the ocean, that is a comfort, but sadly there are no canals here. Our surroundings have become more familiar and our sense of safety and peace has returned. We are beginning to feel like we belong and are part of our new community.We are home again.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 5, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080508.pdf?ref=smdp.com)