The Geese


Putting me in my place

If there is a downside to retirement, at least my retirement, it's the fear of no longer being needed. And thus the upside of the concurrent medical crises in my family is that I'm enjoying myself while doing what is necessary, taking advantage of my wealth of free time. It also helps that by keeping busy I've not wasted much effort worrying about what may go wrong.

Isabel's surgery last month now appears to have been more successful than was first apparent and a follow up operation is no longer being contemplated. Jean and Eddie have finished with all the preliminaries and are waiting to go under the knife for their coronary and cardiac problems. On my advice Mom dismissed her psychiatrist and last week placed herself under the care of another with more geriatric experience. Her hospitalization, for extensive tests, may start as early as Wednesday.

This long holiday weekend is an oasis of calm, albeit also the reason for the admitting delays.

Yesterday I took the time to go for a walk along the lake shore, getting my first sunburn of the year. I had my camera and went out on the breakwater rocks to take some pictures. On my way back I was confronted by a pair of geese. They hissed and honked and belligerently defended a nest that I hadn't seen before, even though it was obvious once they brought it to my attention. They were adamant that I wasn't going to get any closer. I backed off a few metres and they quieted down. After a few minutes I tried to slip by but they moved to intercept and I retreated once more. Finally I made my way down to the water's edge and was allowed to pass. Once I was a good distance away they flew up and dove down into the lake. They swam towards me, squawking and hooting as if they were laughing at me. I took the hint and kept going.










Posted: Sun - April 16, 2006 at 05:15 PM          

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