What a Goose

March 4

My little one is ready for some quality time at the park today. Finally the sun is out and we can hit the play structure. She slides and climbs and swings to her heart's content. I follow along, trying to stay in the sun. The shade is bitter cold but the sun is too hot for a coat. I'm trying to work my layers. We have an involved game of restaurant where the wood chips serve as both food and money. This ability to play and imagine astounds me sometimes. How does a three year old brain already know so clearly what is make believe and what is real? How do they understand so quickly what pretend means? It is not simple business. But yet we all love to pretend, to imagine we are somewhere else or what it would be like to be someone else. Isn't that why we watch movies and read novels as adults?

We head to the river to see the ducks and the Canadian Geese. They are in fine form today. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard who appear to have just stepped out of Make Way for Ducklings come over to greet us. The Canadian Geese size us up quickly. Realizing we have no bread or crackers to offer they go back to their business of searching in the mud. We hear some wonderfully loud honks answered by many little quacks from the ducks. One goose stands looking out at the river. He preens his feathers and then cranes his neck around once more to see if we have produced any snacks. He is beautiful. I quietly thank him for standing still long enough for me to snap his photo.