Four days after we visited the nature center with Kat I wanted to return to see if the Canada goose was still sitting on her eggs. She was, and had turned and was facing the other direction. This time we walked on some other trails through the woods and the meadow. There are still more loops to follow so we plan to return once a week to see the Canada goose, and if we’re lucky, some goslings one day.
It’s like the Light —
A fashionless Delight —
It’s like the Bee —
A dateless — Melody —
It’s like the Woods —
Private — Like the Breeze —
Phraseless — yet it stirs
The proudest Trees —
It’s like the morning —
Best — when it’s done —
And the Everlasting Clocks —
Chime — Noon!
~ Emily Dickinson
(The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #302)
I imagine ‘it’ in Emily’s poem is Presence.
We also found six locations along the Meditation Walking Path, “each selected to provide a place for quiet reflection or meditation.” The path follows some of the other trails and the shortcuts between them. A little confusing but I think we sorted it out.
the leaves are food for the Canada goose couple
notice the turtle climbing up the rocks
The light is so magical this time of year!
Sadly, Connecticut’s covid positivity rate is going up again. On Friday it was over 5%. I got my second booster shot that day and felt malaise all weekend, but it wasn’t too bad. Feeling overwhelming mourning and anticipatory grief for Ukraine…
Loved this post and all your great photos. I think I would be walking in that area all the time if I lived there. Like the quote by Emily D.
Thank you, Peggy. We intend to come here more often now that we feel safer (covid-wise) encountering people on the trails. There’s an outdoor nursery school here, too, on weekdays.
Wonderful goal to set! I’m wondering how long she sits for the goslings. I’m still watching the mourning dove sitting. She had to evacuate over the weekend because we had winds up to 68 mph, but she’s back sitting this morning. Hope to see goslings and chicks!
Glad you mentioned the turtle that I would have missed.
Ukraine grief; heavy.
If I remember correctly the incubation takes 28-30 days but I have no idea when she started sitting on the nest. Might go back sooner than a week, we’ll see. Sorry your mourning dove had to leave her nest, I hope her eggs will still make it to hatching. It’s so exciting to anticipate! I didn’t see that turtle until I got home and saw the picture larger on my laptop screen. 😉
I hope your time in the woods helps your hurting heart. Nature is such a balm for what ails the world.
Being out there in the woods is the only time my mind can let it go… It’s so difficult practicing equanimity these days…
“Mama” is beautiful — I’m eager with you to see her babies! Thanks for pointing out the turtle — I would’ve missed him!
I didn’t see that turtle either until I got home and saw the picture larger on my laptop screen! I hope I will have some baby pictures for you some day soon. 😊
What a lovely area to traipse around and I hope it gives you hope for the future.
My Mom lived north of Atlanta and for the last six months of her life I was her caregiver. She had a lot of geese outside her apartment in a nice little pond area. I never knew, until then that they were Canada geese. And NOT Canadian Geese. I hope they have nice, healthy babies.
The poem is lovely and I hope you are feeling better.
Thank you, Suz. I feel better when I’m walking in the woods or by the sea or doing some yoga but heartbreaking thoughts of deeply wounded Ukraine keep needing to be acknowledged. I feel the need to bear witness to their suffering. It’s too late for a future for so many of them.
I always used to say Canadian geese, too, until I started reading the correct name in birding field guides. That must have been a comfort to your mom having some natural beauty close by. When my mom was dying she used to gaze quietly out the window, looking out to her garden and the woods.
Lovely photos, so peaceful and at odds with the world news. I’d like to sit in that blind and enjoy nature, pretending to be a wildlife photographer but really just being.
Thank you, Ally. I plan to be sitting in that blind when I start seeing some birds in the meadow. Probably some show-off photographer with a super-expensive lens will be sitting in there, too. 🙃
What a great walk you had here Barbara and I’ll look forward to you keeping track of Mama Goose on her nest, then the goslings toddling around. I like all that soft down feathers around her body – she probably used some for the nest. That turtle better not startle Mama on her nest as Papa Goose will go after him. Now that big glacial erratic is not going to be rolled anywhere – that is for sure. The blind is a nice touch and will be perfect for going with your camera or binoculars once (if) the warmer Spring weather arrives. Our Covid stats are starting to rise too. I had my shot booked for last Monday and cancelled it after I saw an article saying if you’re healthy, wait a while – then more and more stats … why didn’t I just keep it? I may not have an underlying condition, but the pushback against wearing masks persists, plus this new variant showing up more, so better to err on the side of caution.
I noticed all those down feathers, too. Yeah, I felt fairly confident labeling that rock a glacial erratic because if fits the scenario of being left behind there by the receding ice sheet. Makes one wonder how many millions of years ago it was deposited there. Hopefully you can schedule another appointment for your booster soon. Our governor recently tested positive, a few days after he got his second booster. I’m sure he’s exposed to lots of people on a daily basis but he had mild symptoms so it probably makes sense to get it as an added protection. Makes me keep my mask on and not get too close to people. Still, it seems likely we might get it eventually…
That glacial erratic is the real deal! I made the appointment today Barbara for next Wednesday morning as cases are rising here too plus I heard about another variant being discussed and I decided not to take a chance. My worry was going into Fall, but I am really not around anyone, don’t attend any indoor or outdoor events and I wear a mask all the time, but I suppose if there is a Fall resurgence of any variant, I’ll be okay to have another shot as enough time has lapsed. What a way to have to think!
So happy to hear you made your appointment! Hopefully in the future it will be a once a year shot but for now it seems to be needed a little more often, especially for us old folks. 😉 I see masks in my future for the long haul, not just for covid but for all the other viruses lurking out there.
Every time I turn on the radio it is about Ukraine, a mass shooting of some type or COVID. Cases are rising for the XE variant now – so happy to get my shot and you’re right, it will be likely a yearly shot and that’s fine with me. I’ve been getting the flu shot for decades. They expect flu cases and COVID cases to rise as a result of Spring break and Easter, Passover and Ramadan being the same time and people getting together for the first time in three years. I now wish I got it earlier. Mask wearing is fine with me as well – taking no chances.
I have to share with you what happened to me today – you will like this Barbara. I went to my regular park, then up to the Botanical Gardens to take pics of the Spring flowers they planted in the Conservatory. I decided to check on Mama Goose and she was off the nest and nearby but I got to peek at the eggs. I was about 10 feet away and her mate was nowhere to be found. She was on the rocks and had gotten a drink as her beak was wet. She didn’t see me as I positioned myself under the covered bridge, then inched closer. I had the small camera, but that was fine as it was less cumbersome and is noisy when it clicks off a shot. She has five eggs and has then surrounded by down feathers and she was plucking feathers out left and right by standing over the nest and letting them fall. She examined the eggs, but didn’t move them and after about 10 minutes plunked down onto the nest again. I was excited – a different type of Easter eggs. So I’ll be like you and return each week. For me, it will be next weekend now and Saturday they have a volunteer clean up the park event for Earth Day, so I think I’ll get there before the crowd does. Hope they don’t scare her. I saw her two weeks ago, so she would have another two weeks, unless she was sitting on the nest earlier than Saturday, April 2nd.
I know what you mean about the war in Ukraine, daily mass shootings and covid surges. I hadn’t heard of the XE variant before. I’m so glad you’re getting your booster. And with Earth Day approaching the reminders about the climate change crisis…
How exciting that you got to peek at your mama goose’s eggs! What an amazing Easter gift for you! Keeping my fingers crossed that you get to see the little ones on your next visit!