Lake Merrit

Isla went with me to the lake today to feed the "ducks." The ducks are in quotation marks not because somebody screamed "ducks" at me in a high falsetto - although that would be cool - but because there were no ducks present at this junction. That's not to say that there were no birds - Oh, there were birds. Upon walking toward the play structure, one notices that the normally springy grass underfoot has a slightly crunchy texture at this time of year, that is one would notice this if one could see the grass under all the freaking geese. There were at least forty-five thousand Candadian Geese at the lake this fine afternoon - and Isla went bonkers - screaming Bop Bop! at every single one of them. At first I was hesitant to let her down from my protective grasp, but curiosity got the best of me (plus she was squirming in my arms and now scream-crying "bop bop, bop bop!" between gasps) so down she went. At first she simply hid behind my leg while the geese, by now old hands at getting food from toddlers and their fathers, yet cautious that we might be carpetbaggers all the same, gathered around us from all sides. It was eerie - I imagined I was in Jurassic Park, and they were velociraptors as they circled us. Then they got bored and resumed doing whatever it is that geese do in the grass. This was Isla's cue to chase. She went after the one that was closest to triple her size and yelled at it - like most things that get yelled at - the goose left in a huff and a ruffling of feathers. One of said feathers was dislodged as it huffed and ruffled, and Isla pointed at it with wonder, then grasped it in her hand, holding it aloft as if it were the holy grail. She proceeded to spend the next 25 minutes chasing that same goose with the feather held out, with every intention of giving it back to the poor beast. This is why I know she's going to be the president of the world. That is so awesome.

I'll leave you with this one last anecdote about geese. They have teeth ON THEIR TONGUES! find this out like I did by trying to feed one Pepperidge Farm Goldfish by hand and having it hiss at you in frustration because you fed its kinfolk rather tham him - and you'll poop bricks too. I promise.