Please note caveat: this story has a sad ending. My heart is heavy as I write it. But because people at DKOS have been so supportive and interested, I want to update you fellow bird lovers on the gosling saga.
This same week, we had a human family member pass away. A dear soul who spent 90+ years serving others with genuine generosity and salient wit. So, this is a somber weekend for me. Reverent. Not depressed. But compassionate in noble grief and acceptance that all things change, including life and lives. Thanks ahead of time to the community here for your vigorous exchanges of information and opinion. You help me to discern what's happening in our world. And special thanks to you who work so diligently to protect our environment.
As I prepare to attend a memorial, I want to leave you who have followed the gosling story with the final chapter of our beautiful little babies, rescued in the desert after being abandoned by their parents.
A snip:
These events can be interpreted in many ways, depending on perspective.
Last night I returned to the pen, participated in feeding the goslings,talking to them, petting their sweet little heads. They had grown about 1/3 the size in one week! I planned to get up this morning for another photo shoot, posting the pics here, because so many nice people have commented about enjoying the chronicling of this rescue effort.
Last night, we stood over the pen, complete with swimming hole, feed, grass for salad. The baby geese appeared robust and content. We commented about how safe they were in this pen, buttressed against a rock wall, with dense wires, logs and boards.
As this 'geese-hatched-in-the-desert story' unfolded, local children got to witness and delight in the babies, watching them swim in their little tub of water, hearing them peep happily when given dry oats. They grew fast in the three weeks we had them, after our human intervention (See posts June 1 and 14, 2008).
But Friday, under the dark cover of night, something unexpected happened.
I'm preparing to go to a funeral, so if interested, please find
the full report at heart4art blog post.
Thanks, everyone for your supportive comments on the gosling rescue effort. It was a privilege to learn from these little birds.