From off in the distance I heard a horrible honking.
Geese. Surely geese. But the honking had no discernable Dopplering. These geese were moving slowly. And the honking was odd. Unlike the honking I've grown accustomed to.
It took a few minutes for the geese to come into view from my perch on the dock. It was evening. I'm not sure what time with any more precision than this. When I finally saw them in the water I spotted the wee goslings with them, flanked by guards in front and rear. Behind them was what I thought was a crippled youngin' or perhaps the ugliest duckling ever. Back and forth I went between working on music and trying to discern the scenario in front of me. It took a few more minutes for them to move a few more yards, when I could finally see everything in plain view I realized it was a dog paddling after them. A golden retriever. The guards at the rear were escorting the hostile as he swam out.
I'm not sure what that dog was thinking. Perhaps he wanted to get away with them. Perhaps he was chasing them, but this seemed the most unlikely. It was just odd. It was funny and beautiful too.
I didn't have the camera with me when I first saw these guys in the water. I had to run back inside, slowly in my sandals, to grab the 70-200mm to get a shot at decent range. By then the dog had swam back to shore. I'm guessing he belonged to somebody, perhaps the neighbords down the way who were also watching the event. Did they assist in raising these birds? All seemed so harmonious. At its base a natural, springtime cyclic event. With the dog involved only more fascinating.
This is a different, beauitful world here.