In general my internal Muse is pretty good about giving me material to write about, and usually in a timely fashion — although the Muse considers 8:30pm for a 10pm publish deadline “timely” whereas I would prefer a bit more lead time. With rare exceptions, she doesn’t take time off.
I have no idea if she was in a post-Thanksgiving tryptophan nap or if she’s the reason Casa Brillig somehow went through as many bottles of wine as we did last week, but she was nowhere to be found the past few days. In other words, that diary last night? Totally my fault.
I cajoled her with really good coffee this morning, and got nada for inspiration. I thought perhaps a relaxed trip into Boston with K1 followed by a good lunch would help… newp. Mute Muse. As I’m sitting in a zoom meeting staring at a screen, suddenly I hear a whisper in my ear…
“Geese”
I stared. Freeking GEESE???!!! How the hell am I going to manage a diary having to do with geese???!
What the Muse wants, the Muse gets. Even when it’s not my idea. Grab a beverage, and hop below the story break after reminding yourself who we are here at Top Comments, and how YOU can be a vital part of this community diary series!
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The first thought I had was the Mary Oliver poem, Wild Geese (read here by Oliver herself):
You do not have to be good,
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting,
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile, the world goes on,
Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,
Over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers,
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination.
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting,
Over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
What I bet you did not know, because I certainly did not, is that if you go to google and search for ‘geese poem’ thinking there is but one, you would be wrong. In fact, there is an ENTIRE LIST OF THEM on the website Love Canada Geese. You’re welcome.
I was trying to get the idea there’s an entire site devoted to geese out of my head by looking through photos on my phone, when I noticed… geese. Pictures of geese. And the Muse and I agreed they would be nice to share here.
On one of my recent walks to check out our local swans, I noticed geese… clearly ALL of the geese, in the outfield of a local baseball field. They actually flew away shortly after this picture was taken, rather than set foot in the infield.
A couple of days later on another walk, I saw all the geese again. This time the vast majority of them wanted to play infield. Oh sure, there are still outfield geese, but this picture makes it look like far more than actually were there. It was clear our local geese liked sports, and were baseball fans.
The very next day, the ball fields were empty. No geese. Keine Gänse. I kept walking… lo and behold…
The geese were crosstraining on the soccer field. Two fields actually, although I didn’t get a shot of the larger geesefilled field across the street.
So do all geese enjoy sportsing?
Nope. There’s always that small pack of rebel geese who hang out at the high school sporting events off to one side. You know, the ones smoking and sneaking into the woods to make out.
So… it seems that the Muse is appeased with my gaggle of goose-related gab and we may proceed to the evening’s trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures. Next week starts my regular December Seasonal Diary Series, and I consider us all lucky said Muse didn’t wait until then to fixate on this topic or our [redacted] would be cooked.
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
From sharondonovan:
Nominating msirt’s comment in Joan McCarter’s McConnell poisons the COVID-19 stimulus negotiations again with cruelest offering yet, because instead of bitching or attacking someone’s point of view, just where to take action. Excellent!
And a highlight from candid psychiatrist:
One hundred recs for this comment by mmacdDE, in kos’ We're in bizarro world. Thanks to Trump's hidden deplorables, high-turnout no longer benefits Dems.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, November 30th 2020, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, November 30th 2020. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!