Perspectives
Another wonderful guest post this morning, from Paula Walker. Thank you, Paula!
For as many of my 69 yrs as I can remember, I have loved the Fall in Southern Ontario. Everything about it: Crisp mornings, rustling leaves, harvest moons, clear night skies, and the profusion of colour : reds, maroons, oranges, yellows, tangerines and everything in between.
But most of all, I love the geese.
My Mum taught me to follow the geese. Everything stopped at our house when a flock flew over.
We would we dash outside, always trailing behind Mum, just to get a better look. One of the huge bonuses of my current home, is its location directly under a geese 'flyway'.
In the spring, we welcome their return and all summer, we watch them training the babies, preparing them for the long trek south.
They are a pretty straggly bunch until late September. When suddenly, this year's 'recruits' seem to get it and learn to fly in formation. For all of October, they fly in ever better V's directly over the house. Well trained, I drop everything to run out and watch at the first 'honk' of any approaching flock.
This year, I decided to go to the local provincial park, just west of town, where the geese touch down before heading back many miles east to another provincial park, attempting with much repetition to teach the young ones just how it's done !
I decided to take my nephew Justin with me for this great adventure. Justin has Cerebral Palsy and uses a power chair for mobility of his limbs. No mobility is needed for his mind I decided after our grand outing.
I took a couple of my lady friends and Justin out to the park to watch the geese as they taught the young ones the rallying cries and the process of lifting themselves from the water to the sky.
It was totally awesome.
On the way home, we diverted to 'Tims' for hot chocolate and trying to get a little enthusiasm out of Justin, I said "What a super day!"
"Yeah, Yeah" said the unimpressed young man, "Three old ladies and a bunch of birds !"
For as many of my 69 yrs as I can remember, I have loved the Fall in Southern Ontario. Everything about it: Crisp mornings, rustling leaves, harvest moons, clear night skies, and the profusion of colour : reds, maroons, oranges, yellows, tangerines and everything in between.
But most of all, I love the geese.
My Mum taught me to follow the geese. Everything stopped at our house when a flock flew over.
We would we dash outside, always trailing behind Mum, just to get a better look. One of the huge bonuses of my current home, is its location directly under a geese 'flyway'.
In the spring, we welcome their return and all summer, we watch them training the babies, preparing them for the long trek south.
They are a pretty straggly bunch until late September. When suddenly, this year's 'recruits' seem to get it and learn to fly in formation. For all of October, they fly in ever better V's directly over the house. Well trained, I drop everything to run out and watch at the first 'honk' of any approaching flock.
This year, I decided to go to the local provincial park, just west of town, where the geese touch down before heading back many miles east to another provincial park, attempting with much repetition to teach the young ones just how it's done !
I decided to take my nephew Justin with me for this great adventure. Justin has Cerebral Palsy and uses a power chair for mobility of his limbs. No mobility is needed for his mind I decided after our grand outing.
I took a couple of my lady friends and Justin out to the park to watch the geese as they taught the young ones the rallying cries and the process of lifting themselves from the water to the sky.
It was totally awesome.
On the way home, we diverted to 'Tims' for hot chocolate and trying to get a little enthusiasm out of Justin, I said "What a super day!"
"Yeah, Yeah" said the unimpressed young man, "Three old ladies and a bunch of birds !"
Comments
Thanks for the memories - and for the surprise ending. I needed to laugh right out loud!