Goose in the rain

            This is Amelia the goose. None of the other geese like her. When they see her getting too close to their enclosures, they set up honking and yelling at her. That makes Amelia hang her head and slowly waddle away. But lucky Amelia does not have an enclosure. She gets to wander around the barnyard as she pleases, so she gets her choice of puddles and sunny spots. (She does share her barn with Popcorn the turkey at night, though.)

            Amelia seems like a very amiable goose. She tries not to get in the way, and while she seems a bit lonely at times she does enjoy finding a good comfortable place to be and settling down there. She loves compost day, like the other geese, only she gets her own private pile of lettuce to work on.
            The one thing Amelia seems to feel strongly about is her pond. In the spring, summer, and fall Amelia has a blue wading pool full of water to splash and play in. The ducks, naturally, also like to get in there and play - but if Amelia spots them in her pool, she has to go chase them out. "Go get your own pond! Like the one in your enclosure, that your geese won't let me swim in!" she tells them. Both parties are so used to this game. The ducks wait until Amelia has wandered away to jump in her pool. Amelia waits until she sees the ducks trespassing, then gets up and waddles over to scold them. And then a few minutes later, the ducks come back and jump in her pool.

            It's still too cold to put out Amelia's pool. But I captured these pictures of her on one of our first rainy days this March, and I think she knows spring is coming. Something about the way the raindrops roll off her back, rather than sticking on and dusting her like the snow does.