Migrations.....

I had just come back home from somewhere and was about to go into the house when I heard that undeniable 'honk' in the distance. My head snapped to attention skyward. "Honk, honk" I heard it again and jumped up and down on my tippy-toes a little too excited for my daughters taste and said "Where are they? I hear them!". A few more 'honk-honks' came and were louder and then, there they were. Twelve Canadian Geese came flying over in their usual 'V' formation. They flew beautifully, perfectly, silently and effortlessly. A couple of honk, honks back and forth to each other and they continued to fly over the trees and out of sight.

I absolutely love Canadian Geese. Always have. Many a time I've had to stop my car on a back road to let some of these cautious geese and their babies cross the road to get to the other side. I sit patiently behind the steering wheel grinning ear to ear giggling like a school girl as they waddle in front of me. I remember one time as many as 30 crossing a 6 lane road one morning. The guy next to me started honking his car horn at them. I guess the 3 minutes they took out his incredibly busy morning was just toooo much. I wanted to thump him on the head so bad.

Physically, these geese are so strong, gorgeous and regal looking. Their coloring and markings are so perfect they look painted. I love that they mate for life and that they both share in the duties of sitting on the nest 'til their babies are hatched and take care of their goslings together....til death do them part. And I love that 'honk'. There is something rough and sore-throaty sounding about it and I can recognize it from the furthest distance. Then there's that 'V'. Again...perfectly in formation and no one gets out of line. It is just awe-inspiring to watch and has always amazed me that they can keep it together and so letter perfect, so to speak, every time. Do you know why they fly in the 'V'? Now this is only what I read on-line, so I hope it's accurate because it sure is interesting. Canadian Geese are migratory birds and have to fly thousands of miles sometimes to get to that warm or cold place depending on the time of year. In order for them to fly longer distances, they fly in a V to cut down on wind resistance so they don't tire out so fast. It's like the cars in Nascar....they're draggin' off the goose in front of them! LOL. The lead goose, at the point of the V, meets the most wind resistance so when he tires, he falls back to the middle of the pack--the easiest spot to fly with the least amount of wind resistance--and one of the middle geese comes forward and leads for a while. The same happens for the two geese that are at the back of the V. They get the 2nd most amount of wind resistance, so when they tire, they move up and a middle guy moves back. If by chance a goose ends up lame or sick, falls out of formation and to the ground, at least two other geese--no less-- will descend with the lame goose and wait til he is better or dies before they continue on to join up with their group again. And did I mention that they always fly as a family?

They are another great example of how God got it right when He created them, didn't He? We could learn so much from nature if we took the time to look and study it some time. Just look at all we could learn from Canadian Geese---mate for life, share not only in the conception of, but in the raising and nurturing of your babies, protect your family, you'll fly stronger and further as a family, give the leaders a break every once in a while, let every family member take the lead from time to time. And when one of your family members goes down or is hurting, stick with 'em and comfort them til they're better or have passed on........

......and if some impatient guy in a fancy, black BMW repeatedly honks his horn at you while your trying to cross the street, poop many times on his favorite golf course! lol....