Sitting with Mother Goose

Stay Wild!

Our greening forest.

Today, while turning from the river and a trail wrecked by the recent flooding of the Saco, we startled a nesting Canada goose. It was almost comical to watch her rump sway heavily with the rhythm of a drumbeat as she quickly waddled through the new blooms of the forest's understory.

Samwise and Emily were also stunned, and while it is in their instincts to give chase, they paused, looked to me, and waited.

"Leave her be, please," may not have been the response they hoped for, but they accepted it and let mother goose be.

We moved away from her nest but sat among newly-green young beech trees.

It was pleasantly warm, with a whisper of a breeze stirring the woodland up enough to have the leaves twisting while keeping the black flies away.

Within minutes, the goose returned to sit on her eggs while keeping her eye on the three of us.

I celebrated her being comfortable enough to return close enough to put herself in danger. She clearly was not threatened. And it was just as…