March 10, 2009

Honk!

Honk!

One my favourite places to walk in the early morning at Southern Monastery was down the hill to the pond, where the geese and ducks never failed to entertain me. Two of the geese, in particular, would serenade me with incredible honks and screeches. Clearly, no one had explained the rule of silence to them. They didn't like it when I knelt down to take photos -- they'd come rushing at me, in full-attack mode, butting their bills against me. The ducks ignored me, mostly, waddling about like cartoon characters, and fishing in the water for food.

Bottoms up

9 comments:

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

Did you have trouble with the rule of silence, jo(e)? : )

All the geese here are Canada geese. I don't think I've seen white ones in my life. They're pretty.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

That second picture makes me smile so much.

And, you know, all I ever get so see are Canada geese and mallard ducks. When I was in Paris, a travel companion pointed out a "real duck that has white feathers and an orange bill and says 'Quack!'" and we realised that none of us had ever seen one in real life before.

fuquinay said...

They can be so threatening. You have to puff out your chest and honk back. They don't expect it.

Purple Hydrangea said...

Duck Butts!

I have a memory logged from when I was about 3 or 4 of going to the park and geese attacking me. I thought they were attacking, they just wanted the bag of bread I was holding. I think I dropped it and ran behind my mom, who was laughing hysterically!

timna said...

I just got to the monastery pictures and realized that's the monastery we used to go to when I was little. We'd drive all the way from Wisconsin and stay in places like Tennessee, all to get to my uncle the monk in the monastery far away from our home. There must be different dorm arrangements; we stayed in a house there. But the windows are the same! My uncle is now in a monastery in Venezuela so I haven't been back there as an adult in 25 years!
It was the bonsai that I loved then, but the light, too.
Thanks for the pictures!
(are you home next week as we drive from Boston back to the midwest??)

jo(e) said...

Timna: Really? That's so cool.

And send me an email if you're coming through Snowstorm Region. I'd love to see you.

kathy a. said...

wow, timna.

these photos made me laugh! how could you not, with honkers and duck butts right there?

Michael Campbell said...

The ducks aren't fishing. They're mooning you.

jo(e) said...

Michael: (laughing) You're probably right. Even from ducks, I get no respect ....