By ERNIE NEUFELD, Weyburn Review Associate Publisher
What Canadian worth the name does not thrill to the sight and sound of a noisily honking vee-formation of Canada geese, northward bound! The sun moves higher in the sky, snow begins to melt and its little rivulets eagerly grasp the pull of gravity and defy each obstacle denying their relentless quest for sea level. Spring has arrived!
The wave of relief is particularly powerful after a cruel winter such as the one experienced for the past few months. That goes not only for the Canadian prairies; even in Toronto, winter's stubborn stay has left people wondering where global warming is when you want it. Don't be deceived by the dateline, however. In my present circumstances my pen is sometimes weeks behind Review deadlines.
But yes, the uplifting scene I describe brings a thrill to all who have tired of a wearying, often discouraging, frigid season, and welcome even a temporary respite. The geese remind us a measure of hope has come or is imminent.
No doubt there is equal beauty in fall migrations, except that the southern heading of the winged throngs reminds us that summer has ended. Besides regret replacing vernal optimism, the sight is often accompanied by a rumbling tummy bespeaking hopes of Thanksgiving culinary delights, robbing the scene of its innocence.
Nowadays, however, I cannot gaze upon the vees - regardless of vector - without an accompanying smile as I recall a presumably young and geographically challenged artist.
Some 15 years ago, vacationing in New Mexico, I dropped in at a Santa Fe art show offering the optimistic efforts of artists in the nearby creative Taos colony.
I was struck, in more ways than one - by a depiction of the traditional Canada goose formation bound in one direction or another. Traditional? Yes, except for one little detail. The configuration of the vee was reversed. That is to say, the point of the vee was at the rear.
So what has all this to do with denizens of Canada's largest city, who are not supposed to be familiar with anything closer to nature than random drive-by shootings?
First of all, in defense of my second home-away-from-home, if one keeps ears and eyes open, while watching the calendar, it is common to spy the migrations I have mentioned.
But I'll admit to astonishment about five years ago when, puzzled but yielding to a slow-down of traffic on Yonge Street, I reduced speed to a crawl myself, then discovered the holdup was a Canada goose waddling across one of the nation's busiest streets. It was flopping its wings, obviously too excited to get airborne. It arrived on the other side unharmed.
Then, about five years ago, we spotted a couple of Canada geese settling in, apparently to stay, on the roof of a neighbouring 10-storey office building, very visible from our 15th-storey vantage point.
Again I wrote this off as a temporary and fruitless aberration, but summer passed and we saw a family of the birds being reared.
For exercise or whatever, they circled our building en masse shortly after sunup every morning, trumpeting disgust for late risers. During the day pedestrians might pass half-grown goslings strutting along or landing on the sidewalks of busy Sheppard Avenue. They would leave unsightly residue on the sidewalks and - without yielding an inch - hiss threateningly at passersby.
To our surprise, they returned - with their brood - the following spring, and by now have become full-fledged urbanites.
Not so dumb, when you think of it. No one dares molest them
on roof or street, there are parks and wooded areas galore nearby
with no competition from their peers. And just think of the all
the lovely garbage that abounds for the honking. Sometimes I wonder
if we worry too much about the survival prospects of wildlife
in our urban society. They may do better than a lot of people.
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