When we got here, we could have killed them--but we nurtured them. Some of them died, despite our best intentions, but the rest flourished. We could have restricted them, but they were given autonomy. We could have abandoned them to fend for themselves; instead we offered them sumptuous fare. Now, we have provided them shelter against the elements and the opportunity for a new and better way of life--they just have to accept what we've provided, and start living in it. I'm talking about the geese, of course, who have yet to step inside their new home, which has adorned the side of their spacious "duck pond" for almost a week now.
A blue heron has been observed hanging out at the pond for the last few days now, a beautiful bird that is still somewhat more skittish than the geese, and probably always will be. I tried twice to get close enough for a decent picture, but each time just when I was getting set to take the picture, it flew off. There was a blue heron that Sheryl, Joshua and I observed a year ago back at Casper's Park near San Juan Capistrano. Though normally they hang out around water and eat fish (I've been told), this one patrolled brushy fields and meadows and ate gophers and other varmints. Though we didn't see it catch one, the Ranger said it was quite a thing to see the heron struggling to gulp down a gopher--but the heron has apparently decided that the struggle is worth it--it has become a pretty permanent fixture there at Casper's. It's amazing the severities of the changes that can be endured, eventually incorporated, and ultimately lead to a preferred way of life. I'm talking about the heron, of course.
Semper Fi,
Jarhedjon
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