A Couple of Canadian Geese...

I promise not to blog too much about the puppies today. They're currently sleeping in their basket as I write this- I think there's hope for them to be trained as good 'writing dogs' yet. They wore themselves out this evening, tearing around the garden. Only once did I have trouble with the Dog Whisperer's beasts. My puppies yapped a couple of times and then went about their business of playing. Meanwhile, the Dog Whisperer tried to control his dogs' incessant barking.

I think we can safely say that the dog issue is not on our side. I do try to wait to go out until the large beasts are inside the house but, inevitably, someone lets them out. Since my puppies do not really react beyond the initial alarm and he can't control his dogs barking, I feel slightly superior that my dogs are so much better behaved.

It's nothing a privacy fence isn't going to cure.

Ok, moving on from the puppies, since I promised. Work has been good, lately. I don't know if it's the arrival of Spring as a break from the doom and gloom of the lurking winter months but things definitely seem brighter lately. I'm busy with projects, I've been allowed to do some training and, all in all, I don't hate being at work. Well, ok, so I'd rather be at home with, uh, my pets but I'm making the most of not being able to have that luxury.

It is nice that Spring is here. We have clusters of daffodils scattered around all the trees in our office park. It's lovely, particularly when the morning chill fades and the sun brings a warmer breeze.

In addition, we now have geese living in the office park. They're Canadian Geese. I know this because I heard them honking at one another the other day and it instantly gave me a flashback to all the years I lived in my parent's house and how I'd sleep with my window open in the hot summer months. Across the road, since my parents live in the country, was our neighbour's house. He had a very large pond that was infested with Canadian Geese and ducks.

I'm not sure if he meant for the geese to live in his pond. I know he liked ducks but I was never sure about the geese. All I know is that for years, in the sultry summer heat, I'd hear this obnoxious "HONK" through the night.

Since the sound is embedded in the recesses of my memory, it's only natural that a flashback would be inspired when I heard the sound at work the other day.

I'm not quite sure why the geese are there, though. Eventually, we're supposed to get a pond in our office park. It's not there yet though. So, I'm thinking that the geese are a little early for that- either that or they're squatting, holding the best spots for when the pond is built.

They seem quite happy. They're always together. Some of my coworkers are a little alarmed, afraid that they'll be chased. I've heard stories from my mother about how she was chased by geese as a little girl. They never bother me much though. I've taken to saying, "hi, geese!" when I see them. They never say hi back though- which is probably best because if they did, it would be a little weird.

I actually was going to go say hi to them the other day. We had a meeting outside since the weather was nice but my coworkers pulled me back, afraid that I'd inspire the geese to chase them. I admit, that might have been funny. Would that have been a wild goose chase?

Ok, that was bad.

Yesterday was the most interesting day with the geese. We have these pieces of roof that extend out from our windows. They could be balconies but I don't think they're secure enough. Yesterday, as I was coming back from the bathroom, I passed by one of these windows and saw, to my surprise, that one of the geese was on the roof.

Not only that but she seemed to have a large tennis ball. I feel confident saying, 'she', because on further inspection, I realized it wasn't a tennis ball...she'd laid an egg.

Naturally, I was a little...surprised. I went back to my desk and told my coworkers. Two of them ran to look, fascinated. Another one casually sniffed and said that our resident custodian had already been 'moving' eggs from all over the office park. By 'moving', she naturally meant 'throwing away.'

I instantly felt bad. I know that the geese would be a nuisance and that we don't want them infesting our office park. Let's face it, Canadian Geese make a mess. They 'eliminate' all over our car park- a greenish poop that looks nasty.

Yet, I still felt bad for them. Here we have this rather sweet, joined at the wing, loving couple of birds. They wanted to raise a family. They found a nice office park where they heard that there would eventually be a pond. So they made it their home, sort of like getting into a housing development in the early days. They decided to pop out a couple of goslings...

And then our custodian took them away.

I ask you, is that really fair? From the human angle, I can see the logic, I suppose. But if I'm thinking like a goose, I'm thinking that's just plain unfair and cruel.

Still, the geese don't seem to be bothered that much. If they were, they would leave. They would probably stop laying eggs. For now, though, they tend to just wander up and down, occasionally chasing each other with flurried "HONKS!"

Personally, despite the nasty poop, I think they're fun to have around. Some places have swans, we have Canadian Geese.

I proposed adopting them as our company mascots. I got some funny looks at that

But that's nothing new, really, is it?

Happy Wednesday!