A journal of outdoor observation, written in response to the simple act of paying close attention for an hour a day to the natural sights and sounds of an ordinary backyard in Decatur, Georgia, or wherever my travels take me, with the intention of recording the single most interesting perception of the hour. The challenge has taught me to expect the unexpected!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Mother Goose
It was the stuff of which childhood nightmares are made. On today's walk a small red-headed girl, about age 5, got between a mama goose and her eight goslings. It wasn't her intention to do so. The goslings had just crossed the sidewalk, leaving their mother on the other side, when the child stepped between them on the path to watch the babies. Instantly, mother goose alerted and stepped closer. The little girl froze. Mother goose stretched her neck tall, eye level with girl, and hissed---complete with fluttering tongue. The girl screamed, the goose hissed more vehemetly. Had the girl's own mother not jerked her out of harm's way, I believe the goose would have attacked. I understood why the girl screamed. I stepped back myself. May I never have a mother goose look me in the eye and hiss.
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