One of my earliest childhood musical recollections is Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987, source WIKI) singing The Ugly Duckling from the film Hans Christian Andersen (1952), a classic my Dad ensured I saw when it came on television many years later.
I had The Ugly Duckling on a 78 rpm record, the B side of which was The King’s New Clothes.
I have always been fascinated how anyone could think of cygnets as being ugly, but then in the song he thought he was a duck and so didn’t look like any of his ‘siblings’.
As you know, we are in close proximity to both ducks and swans here, and have been watching them rear their young families both in and out of the marina.
On our travels, we have seen swan families of 6 or 7 young, and I am pleased to say that most on the river have survived.
At one of the locks last time, we had a pair of swans approach the boat with their babies.
Unfortunately, there appears to be only one survivor here, but he is far from ugly.
Parent and offspring
Gorgeous
Beautiful
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About pensitivity101
I am a retired number cruncher with a vivid imagination and wacky sense of humour which extends to short stories and poetry. I love to cook and am a bit of a dog whisperer as I get on better with them than people sometimes!
In November 2020, we lost our beloved Maggie who adopted us as a 7 week old pup in March 2005. We decided to have a photo put on canvas as we had for her predecessor Barney. We now have three pictures of our fur babies on the wall as we found a snapshot of Kizzy, my GSD when Hubby and I first met so had hers done too.
On February 24th 2022 we were blessed to find Maya, a 13 week old GSD pup who has made her own place in our hearts. You can follow our training methods, photos and her growth in my blog posts.
From 2014 to 2017 'Home' was a 41 foot narrow boat where we made strong friendships both on and off the water. We were close to nature enjoying swan and duck families for neighbours, and it was a fascinating chapter in our lives.
We now reside in a small bungalow on the Lincolnshire coast where we have forged new friendships and interests.
I have always been fascinated how anyone could think of cygnets as being ugly, but then in the song he thought he was a duck and so didn’t look like any of his ‘siblings’.
pensitivity101 
It is interesting how society’s expectations have changed since the 1950’s. Regardless of the “parentage” of DK’s Ugly Ducking …….. the song could well raise eyebrows today, after all, what is “ugly? What happened to “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”? For all the times that I think we haven’t made much progress (as a humane species) over the past 50+ years, there have in fact been many very positive social changes. “Ugly” though? I don’t think an entertainer would get much support for it today! 🙂