Oh those geese.

Having geese overhead for me is like texting and driving - I need to pull over. A sure sign that fall is here in Draper is when the geese start their migrating.

Often times on my way to work in the morning, heading down 300 East, I hear their honking and it makes me smile. I'm not quite sure when my affinity for these beautiful birds started but I can't get enough of watching their flight. It fascinates me.

I got lucky the other night when I happened to be driving down 3rd East in the evening. It was just before dusk, there was a light rain (thus the spots on the pictures) and the geese were taking off from the nearby pond in full force. One group after another. I was so excited. Mostly because I happened to be in the right place at the right time, but also because I had the camera in the car.

I pulled over into a church parking lot, got out, and watched and listened. It was awesome.

The Utah National Guard is off of 300 East too ... it sits quite a ways back from the road. I figured the pond must be on the property of the base so I couldn't get to it. (I would love to watch them take off from the water.) But I looked closer and could see water behind a few of the houses along the street ... hmmm.

A friend of mine lives down a road not too far from that area. As luck would have it, I ran into her at Sam's Club just a few days after I took these pictures. We talked about the geese. She told me that you could get to the pond from her neighbor's back yard. I said, Don't you just love having them here and being so close?

I think she sensed my enthousiasm and was trying to be sensitive to my emotions so she responded with, "Sure. Yes. I do love the geese. I don't love the mess that they and the ducks leave behind, however."

Hadn't really thought about that. I guess that's like showing your adoration for a new little baby and then having the mom say, but his diaper is horrible to change. You don't really want to know. You don't really want to have to think about that part of it, am I right?

Driving from my parents house in Pittsford, NY to Palmyra there is a rather large grassy area along the highway where geese are always gathered. I have no idea why, in that particular spot, but my sister Courtney said, They are always here, and have been for years.

One day as we were passing I pulled the car over to try and get a closer look at my beloved geese. They didn't really appreciate an intruder. They ran away from me. I ran faster, so did they. Darn it.