A Surprise Goosing

Yesterday, I met my friend Lelia for a four miler after work. Lelia and I trained last year with Team in Training as "runalkers." Right now, I am walking only to prepare for the Komen 3-Day in four weeks, and she has walked with me a number of times in support.

So, I was waiting for Lelia at Byrd Park. I walked a lap around the lake to warm up. I did some Achilles stretches as I watched people enjoying the park. Among them were a woman and a couple of little kids feeding the Canadian geese, of which there were several dozen in the lake. The kids were maybe three and five. Now, I don't want to say that the lady was large, but let's just say that her knickers were made out of the mainsail of the USS Constitution!

There was a lip of stone along the lakeshore, and the waterline of the lake itself was maybe 2-3 feet below the stone. Suddenly, a goose exactly in front of the lady and her kids flapped its wings rapidly, making a sound like the Space Shuttle on steroids. And in the same motion, it launched through the air like a heat seeking missile and landed on the lip of stone just a few feet from the people. The lady let out a shriek that would have shattered the glass at the National Aquarium - several car alarms went off. The shrieking had no effect on the errant goose, which stood at the edge of the lake honking in triumph. As the lady was shrieking, she turned and started running away. Well, the act of screaming and running - plus the goose - scared the hell out of the little kids, and they started screaming and crying. There was a little rise to get back to the road, and as she ran, the lady slipped and started to fall. She regained her balance, but not before her pants came partially down, exposing her impressively vast knickers. All the while, the kids were wailing!

It was all pretty hilarious to watch since no one got hurt. But I felt bad for the little kids, who were genuinely scared. Plus they probably have an unnecessary fear of Canada geese now, which is too bad. They took to feeding pigeons, which are a lot smaller than geese, and the kids would still scream when a pigeon got too close. It was a good reminder how children learn both good and bad things by watching adults.