I sat by the fire in my backyard last night, watching the flames dance and writhe, throwing up sparks into the cool early-fall air. The only sounds were the popping of the wood as it burned and the muted city sounds of cars several blocks away. Above me, Cygnus glowed amid a purple-black expanse.
A chorus of honking began to grow—birds, not cars luckily. A second later, a B-2 bomber-sized V of Canada geese appeared directly above me, the lead goose eclipsing Cygnus almost perfectly. They were flying so low that the firelight made their pale underbellies glow faintly. Their dark wings cut long angles of black out of the sky. In a few seconds, they had disappeared over the house, heading for the lake.
I wonder if they know they’re going the wrong way, I thought. It’s fall and they are flying north. Well, that’s 2020 for you. Maybe they were just trying to get back to Canada as fast as possible.
The Green-Walled Tower 
September 21st, 2020 at 1:55 am
Lovely and interesting piece – we have Canada geese on the pond here in Alton, Hampshire, England. Occasionally the swans evict them, probably after a staff meeting with the ducks and coots.
September 21st, 2020 at 6:14 pm
As a Canadian, I feel a certain kinship to them. It’s a beautiful thing to watch them fly over, especially as the sun is going down and the sky turns scarlet behind them. I’m sure a battle between the swans and geese would be epic. They can both be pretty fierce.
September 26th, 2020 at 1:41 pm
I can see you so clearly, your face in the glow of the flames, the geese overhead like a winged army, rather than fighter planes. You’re calm and peaceful with only the cracking of that wood chanting in the background. Maybe geese are dyslexic and that’s why they fly backwards. A thought
September 29th, 2020 at 8:58 pm
I’m a wilderness guy at heart, so when I can get a bit of that, even in the middle of the city, it refreshes me.
September 30th, 2020 at 4:17 am
It’s so Thoreau, Waldon Pond…Emersonian in its essence. 🙂