Something in the Air

 I do not know what it was, but yesterday when I was driving the kids home we encountered quite an event.  It lasted for about 30 minutes and then disappeared as quickly as it had begun.  The sky filled with geese.  The pictures do not begin to do it justice. 

This was much more than the typical nightly heading into the roosting grounds.  This was my early carpool, so mid afternoon.  Hundreds upon hundreds of geese filled the entire sky overhead and were flying frantically with no organization, and in every which direction.  As they would circle in clouds, the deafening sound of their honking would fade in and out.

At the same time, when I dropped off our carpool, one of the trees in front of his house filled with robins.  Odd this late in the season and being so cold out.  There was easily two dozen of them hopping around trying to gain footing on the frozen branches. 

The sky was crystal clear and the moon was just rising in the East.  There must have been something in the air, maybe a warning of today's coming snows.

The Majesty of Geese

For a weekend that was supposed to be slow, it sure sped up!  Between the pinewood derby and a birthday party, we ended up being gone all day Saturday.  As we were driving home I glanced leisurely out the passenger window and caught a truly majestic sight.  There were about 8 geese at eye level just taking off out of a yard just adjacent to where we were driving.  I was awed by the moment.  I was struck at how they actually take off in the V formation.  Each spread out and taking their turns from ground to air.  I guess I had always figured that the spread into that formation once airborne.  Then I was left breathless watching the amount of energy they expended just trying to get from a state of homeostasis to flight.  It takes an amazing amount of strength to get their large and buoyant bodies off of the ground.  The scene happened in about 10 seconds, yet seemed in slow motion.  It was much too fast a moment for me to dig my camera out of my bag and capture it.

Sunday was spent with another birthday party and preparations around the farm for a blizzard headed our way.  In our ten years living here we've never experienced anything like the expected 2 feet coming our way....we..shall..see.  I took the above photo last night, the sunset was lighting up puffy snow clouds blowing in off of the lake and illuminating the yard in golden spring like light.   These geese were headed to roost and perhaps a little too deceived by the light to be prepared for the coming storm.