Duck, Duck, Goose

For awhile we had a pair of geese making themselves at home in our yard. Unlike a lot of bird types, the markings are the same for males and females, so I can’t know for sure (not being much of a birder; okay, not being a birder at all), but we assumed they were a mated pair. Watching them, we even thought they might be a nesting pair.

When they helped themselves to Lynn’s grass seed, they did so one at a time; the other standing with outstretched neck, ever vigilant. And if a raven swooped low nearby, one of the geese would launch itself with great ferocity at the interloper, driving it off. That seems like a protective parent, right?

Alas, no baby geeses have materialized, and the pair quit wandering around our yard like they owned it. And maybe they do: last year, while the house was under construction, a nearby pair of geese produced three fluffy goslings. Perhaps these are the same parents.

There are three ponds here in Riverwalk. One, to the south, I haven’t ever really inspected, although if I put a lot of effort into it I could approach it from the south without trespassing. Our lot abuts the middle pond, which is where last year’s baby geeses put in their fuzzy appearance.

Just north of Riverwalk Drive is the third pond, and this weekend I got momentarily excited, because in it were one goose and some smaller brown birds. But no: the smaller birds were just ducks. Just. I like watching the ducks, too, but I wanted them to be baby geeses.

It’s not just phantom geese I’m seeing: last night, under what has to be a nearly-full moon (no almanac or informative calendar at hand), I thought I saw a large animal holding still down near our pond (the one that no longer contains geese). Then I looked closer to home and saw a smallish deer grazing on the tiny shoots of Lynn’s grass, coming up in patchy fits with swaths of mud between. I decided the darker, more shadowy lump at a distance was a deer companion.

This morning, though, I’m not so sure, since when I look out in the bright of day I can see clumps of greenish vegetation in among the yellowish-brown. There was definitely one deer grazing last night, holding every bit as still as the deer-that-might-have-been-vegetation.

And here I stop, the output for two days dwindled down to 400 words. I have to go figure out how to keep my business, probably able to remain afloat for a couple of months without intervention, viable for the longer term. I spent the weekend e-mailing a financial assistance firm with no real knowledge more than I already have (we are all learning together; isn’t that great?), and a pile of phone calls to make this morning to see if some bank somewhere will accept a PPP application from a non-customer. If Bank of America hasn’t snapped up every last available cent.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.