Brody: A silly goose story
Published 7:57 am Tuesday, February 14, 2017
By Jean Brody
Sun columnist
The days here are springlike. It is so odd to have 70-degree weather in February and I definitely wanted to take advantage of it. I love to do my daily walking outside whenever possible so, yesterday, out I went without a jacket.
There I was happily walking down the sidewalk when I heard a loud ‘whoosh’ above me. I looked up and there was a flock of geese flying across the road and they decided to land by me. I counted them and there were 36 big geese and they landed on the same sidewalk I was walking on.
They made a huge circle around little me, honking and cackling.
Now, I love all animals and have spent many hours watching a goose or two out my living room window. The cats get on the windowsill and when they see them just outside our apartment, they make that clicking noise cats make when they see something that really interests them. You cat lovers know that noise they make, right?
But one or two or even 10 outside in the yard is quite different than a flock of 36 of them, all around me. All I could think was to just sit down on my walker seat and watch. Shoot, I just sat, thinking sweet, admiring thoughts and did not move.
I never heard that geese were mean or anything, and they really are beautiful, but 36 of them was a little unsettling.
I do not know how long this little gathering lasted, but apparently they didn’t have a clear picture of what they wanted to do. I mean, they all had this blank stare on their faces and I began to feel uneasy. So, what to do?
I remembered what my two cats do every time they see geese or any other bird. They make that cat noise with their mouths so, what the heck — I began mimicking that noise.
Every goose stopped hovering around me and listened. I had no clue what I was saying to them but it must have prompted them to realize there was no fun where they were. One goose began to walk on down the avenue and every last one followed him (or her), pecking at unseen bugs in the grass. They apparently were much happier at that point and started honking at each other.
In no time, there was room for me to get off my walker seat and continue my walk on that lovely, warm day in Littleton, Colorado.
The view from the mountains is wondrous.