Yesterday, while strolling next to the lake, we had the good fortune to see three geese families and their little goslings. It was one of the first nice days we’ve had since winter ended. My heart rejoiced to feel warmth and see so much activity, both human and animal. We stopped to watch the geese eating. They were munching in the grass fields with focus and purpose. Counting the goslings was hard since they were scampering around, resting, eating, and trying to keep up. However, I would estimate there were around twenty.
We continued our walk. After a few minutes I turned back to check on the geese. We spotted them crossing the promenade to reach the lake. Though some of the promenade is closer to the lake, the geese picked one of the highest. We backtracked to watch since I couldn’t imagine how all those tiny, cute, fuzzy, golden goslings would make their way into the lake.
Without too much hesitation, we watched the first family all jump right off the promenade directly into the lake. These goslings were a bit older judging by their size and color of their down. However, there were still at least a dozen small goslings all pipping and squeaking at the edge. The parents tried to usher the goslings in, but didn’t have much luck. Then they just jumped in the water and waited. All the goslings crowded and jostled at the edge watching their parents.
I watched in amazement as those tiny creatures mustered up the courage to fling themselves right into the water. I’m sure the water was also freezing cold, even though it was hot out. At one point, we thought there was only one left. But she started pipping and ran to the side. She came back with one other gosling. One of them jumped in and then only one remained. The last gosling kept squeaking, starting and stopping to take this giant leap of faith. Going to the edge, looking over and then backtracking.
Meanwhile, the geese were starting to drift off, but also keeping a watchful eye on the last gosling. By this point, there was a quite a crowd gathered around to watch the spectacle. Then the gosling jumped, landing with a splash. Everybody clapped and cheered.
One of the parents swam over to collect her into the fold, embracing her into their supportive community.
