Goose Herds

When I left work tonight, I ran into HERDS of geese on the lawn. A man exiting the building after me, told me that I should try photos at mid-day, when the geese play in the fountain (OK, Rebecca, so maybe trespassing in that fountain in the name of rebellion is not worth the undiagnosed, resistant-to-modern-medicine diseases lurking in the depths. Seems like it should be). Then, another exited, and said, “You know, they’re just rats. Why don’t you take a photo of me hitting them with my car?” I thought it was the pigeons that were rats, not the geese. Aren’t they the harbingers of the equinoxes, gliding the skies in orderly majesty? “No, they’re rats.”

I could wax indignant about how we have caused this conflict. How we build the cities, the housing developments, and office parks, in a quest to fill the space between horizons. How we mow over the habitats of deer and goose, pigeon and hawk, and rue their adaptive qualities (Oh, why won’t they just stop munching on my shrubbery and fouling my fountains and molesting my garbage and spattering my sidewalk, and just go awayyy?). I could point out that we could just leaving a piece of ground and sky for them to run and soar, and it really wouldn’t cost us much, nor greatly delay our march toward dominion. But, I guess you know all that.







“Ummm … dudes? There’s a pond right over there.”

“Yeah, but it’s got goose poo in it.”






Who are we? Consumer or steward? Caretaker or developer? Cooperative or competitor? Can we be both, or would we fail, trying to walk the in-between? We better figure it out. Else, one day soon, we may find ourselves gazing out upon a stark and empty landscape, eating our tuna sandwiches on the patio, and wondering where the life went.

I must mention that the two men are really great guys (you’re not reading this are you?). I’d post their pictures, but they’re officers, and I’d be fired, and wouldn’t be able to pay for my internet connection (Damn, Comcast and their mercenary ways), and thus would follow the demise of this blog.