Cars and trucks are mighty fine. So are airplanes and buses. This is just a mediation on how many ways there are of getting around.
Even getting to work (this was taken in the employee parking lot of a local hospital).
And there’s getting around just for the fun of it
and in the imagination
and by train (Yonkers, New York, taken from the train)
Or on foot
or just catching a ride.
Do I photograph geese a lot? I photograph geese a lot. Perhaps for the same reason people climb mountains or rob banks. They’re there. Or here. And then they leave, but only for a while. Despite their Canadian nomenclature, they don’t seem to like the pond as well when it’s frozen over. Which brings to mind a picture of a goose in ice skates. Never mind. I would certainly photograph that if it appeared. Meanwhile,
there’s what geese really do.
including hold up traffic. Ave, vale, guys. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Whatever the season, I like to go and look at the pond, and sometimes take its picture.
In the Fall, which is fast upon us here, it has a quality of stillness that’s different from other times of the year.
Some things are closing down. 
The geese will leave for a while, probably come back around March. And this picture (from a year ago) reminds me what’s coming.
Early Spring Duende
(for Judy Longley)
I”m out here looking for Canada
Geese. Is that anything like
a wild goose chase? I only want
to shoot them with
my camera and think
about duende
as they stiff-walk on the dead
grass, take off wildly
honking, hit the water
awkward, put their heads in
the freezing cold and shake
their oily feathers like
trash. Wings tucked, necks erect,
two of them and a duck
arrow across this pond, where
the water, today,
is gray-green and winter’s mourning
still hangs
from the trees. They don’t know
I want their picture. If they knew,
they’d have no idea
why. These frequent tourists
are out looking for their life. I’d have
to say, so am I.
One of the many delightful things about having a pond in the neighborhood is the way it attracts wildlife — in this case, the occasional duck, but mostly geese (of the Canada variety)
And sometimes turtles. They tend to lurk at the far end of the pond. The Geese and ducks seem to get along well.
despite the dominance of geese.
I haven’t had the privilege of seeing any duck babies either.
but the geese are clearly family-oriented.
And they do sort of take over the place.
I call it a pond, but technically, it’s a “stormwater reclamation project.” It sits adjacent to several fairly high density (for the suburbs) living areas, including the apartment complex where I live. For those of us who live nearby, it’s a blessing of many kinds. I like to take its picture.
And then there’s the geese
For a while there, this spring, it seemed like the pond was a goner. They, the ubiquitous they, came in, put up a chain-link fence and proceeded to dig.
Nobody knew what they had in mind, but it didn’t look promising. Day after day, big trucks came in and out, carrying away dirt and stones. Pretty soon, it began to look like a field
and we began to wonder whether we should be resigning ourselves to another development going up or something equally non-aquatic. Then, Saturday, as I was driving up that road I noticed the chain-link fence was gone. I pulled over immediately, parked at the side, and ran to look. The pond was back.
Of course it looks a little ragged right now
but no complaints. Long live the pond!
Whaddya Mean Rosebuds? 