Noticing the Geese

The road on which I often bike takes me past a farm with geese roaming freely on the yard.  They are big, beautiful, white birds with a stately air about them.  I have never seen the geese close to the road; certainly, not on the road.  But today, one of them must have wondered onto the pavement.  And there it lay.  A pile of . . . well . . . I won’t go into the details.  You’ve seen road-kill.  At first I thought it was a chicken, but it was too big for that.  I felt a twinge of sadness as I continued my ride.

A single row of trees caught my attention.  Hah!  A hint of green!  Something inside me was comforted  at this tangible promise of spring, at last.  It's been a long time coming this year.  I thought of new life juxtaposed with the new death I had seen on the road earlier.   

Since my route today is an out-and-back route, I returned thirty minutes later to the farmyard I mentioned earlier.  The eight or ten remaining geese slowly made their way out from the yard, their regal beaks pointing in the direction of the heap of feathers on the road.  They walked slowly.  The somber situation seemed to settle in as they saw for themselves what had happened.  One by one they came to a stop before reaching the pavement.  Like sentries arriving after the battle, each one chose its own distance of reverence.   They seemed to ponder in disbelief, “What are we going to do now?” 

And then it was behind me. 

The scene had time to unfold when riding by at the speed of a bike.  Had I been in my car, I may not have noticed any of it, other than the tangled mound in the middle of the lane (around which I would have carefully maneuvered my car in order to straddle the mess).  The mournful parade of the remaining geese would have gone unnoticed. 

Unnoticed.  So much passes by unnoticed.  More accurately, we pass by the unnoticed.  I’m thinking of the people living in cardboard huts under a bridge on the documentary by Prairie Grass Productions, The Fourth World:  One Billion People at the Bottom of the Pile.  The statistics are numbing but I do not remember the details.  I need to watch this film again.  The slums it portrays show a sobering reality we’d like to ignore.

Sea to Sea is all about getting people to notice poverty and inviting them to do something about it.  If you’re reading this and you haven’t given anything lately to help fight poverty, consider making a donation to Sea to Sea.  If you want your gift to be added to the donations under my name, just find me on the list of riders.  We’re partnering with well-established organizations fighting the cycle of poverty.  Browse the website to find out more; or use your creativity and find some other way to fight the cycle of poverty.