The Delight of Canadian Geese

I used to be indifferent to Canadian Geese.  Most-or at least many-people detest what said people might call the nasty things.  I get it, I do.  They make a mess, have been known to be a bit on the aggressive side, and just don’t come across as majestic in the same way, say, a heron or egret does.  But now, Canadian Geese bring me much delight.

And this is why: my mother counts herself among the people who detest those nasty things.  My parents live along a creek where some Canadian Geese might be inclined to congregate. Don’t take this wrong—there is plenty of space elsewhere along this creek for the geese to gather and make their noisy messes—it is, perhaps, just in the nature of geese to choose places they’re most unwanted (I wouldn’t put it past the nasty things).  She told me a story where she was sort of chasing a goose away from their yard and it kept attempting to return a little further up from where she was, but still in their yard.  She was animated whilst telling me how she scolded the goose “Oh don’t you dare!”  

And so, every time I see a Canadian Goose, I am filled with delight at the image (movie? GIF?) that my imagination conjures of my mother marching, red faced (I did mention this is entirely the conjuring of my imagination, right?), pointing her finger at a goose and scolding it in plain English as if it were a toddler.  I even gave my mother some rubber boots (that I’m pretty sure she doesn’t own) to complete this picture.  It’s an adorable image (I’m so proud of my imagination!) and thus, brings me delight.

Part of this delight comes from the fact that I worry, sometimes, about my imagination.  With the advent of smart phones, and social media, YouTube, et al, I worry that my imagination doesn’t get enough use.  That it is shrinking in that “use it or lose it” sort of way.  But this movie—very loosely based on a true story—that appears automatically every time I see a Canadian Goose, is proof that there is still some life left in this old imagination.

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