What's Good For The Goose....

For the past 5 or 6 weeks, walking down a certain walkway to get into my work building, there has been a Canadian Goose nesting in one of the gardens that line the walkway. My work campus is full of these things. I like to joke with my wife that these are Mallards, but I know they are Canadian Geese.

But this one particular nesting goose, of whom I have become very fond, has been sitting in the same spot for weeks now. Sitting on top of her eggs, waiting for them to hatch.

It's got to be a thankless job, sitting one spot for weeks, enduring all kinds of weather. But then, my wife reminds me that they are Canadian, and therefore rain and cold do not bother them.

It's just been rather touching to walk by the same goose everyday and see her sitting there, protecting her eggs.

With all that's been going on lately, especially at work, well, I haven't been the most excited to walk in there everyday. But walking past this goose on the way into work now everyday makes me smile before I go in.

Recently, I walked a tad bit too close to her, and she must have felt threatened, because she stood up and put her wings out to the side like Batman before he drops off the top of a building. Of course, I have no intention of harm,this duck charms me as I walk by her everyday, and for some reason makes me feel a little better about life before I go into work. But it was neat too see how quickly she rose to protect her eggs, the future chicks.

This all she does every day. She sits on her eggs, as they mature, protecting them. We all at work assume there is a male duck that brings her food each day, but I haven't seen him yet.

Her only purpose in life is to protect her young right now. And I'm no bird expert, but I think once these chicks hatch, she will nurse them for a while, then they will all fly their separate ways. But right now, her sole aim in life is sitting on those eggs, making sure not a soul gets near them. That's true loyalty.

It's funny to me that we, as a race of human beings, always feel so far superior to animals or mammals of any kind. Hunters shoot living things for sport, or to 'cut down on population', claiming a superiority to anything not human. Heck, we've all on occasion, shooed a dog or cat out of a seat, so we, the humans, can sit down. Because we rule this earth, right?

Textbook-wise speaking, I'm sure that is true.

But I think we could all learn a little something from these creatures, especially this particular Canadian Goose.

She is loyal beyond the measure of several human beings in the world. She is totally selfless. She will not let these chicks down, no chance in hell. I think with humans, there is always a chance we can be let down, even by loved ones. That's just reality. We are fallible. We make mistakes. We let people we love down, though we may try not to do so.

But my goose, she is not letting her chicks down. Sure, one could say that this is just nature. This is the way these creatures operate. They don't have the brain capacity to be as multi-faceted as us humans, for lack of a better term. And yes, we are on top of the food chain.

But this goose, to me anyway, serves as a reminder and affirmation to the beauty of life all around us. We cannot take it for granted, we can't let people we love or claim to love down.

I think we could all learn something from this goose.

D

P.S., I've named her Jane. :-) I'm going to be sad when her and her chicks have flown away. But I'll be happy for Jane that she will again be free.