Make Way for Goslings

A flock of geese made us late to school today. Okay, we chose to stop and watch a flock of geese and consequently were late to school.

I love seeing the world through my children's eyes. This morning we were running a bit late. Getting two kids out the door, dressed and mostly clean can be a challenge some days. I was driving along, one eye on the road and one of the dashboard clock when a large Canada Goose calmly stepped onto the road in front of me. Several adults and a flock of maturing goslings followed his lead.

There were claps and shouts of "Oh, cool!" from the back seat. The girls periodically remind me of where my focus should be.

Instead of cursing because the geese were crossing the road in front of the car we pulled over and watched a creche of Canada Geese cross the road, waddle down the bank and swim off across a small pond. All Spring we've been waiting to see the goslings up close. We knew they'd hatched but the adult geese had been keeping them well clear of the road. We'd only been able to see them at a distance.

Danielle climbed on to my lap and yelled "honk honk" out the window. She looked back at me, "What? I speak Goose," she said. Of course she does. I opened the side door of the minivan so Amanda could get a better look.

Once the geese were safely in the water Danielle hopped out and retrieved a long grey wing feather. She held it up to me and then ran back to find a feather for Amanda.

The geese glided off and we resumed our trip to school, happy and relaxed even though we were half an hour late.