The geese said goodbye today. Autumn has swallowed the world, her cool winds signaling another peaceful end to another marker, another milestone, another memory saying goodbye again to my feathered friends.
I don’t know how they manage to find me every year, alone, never within shouting distance of another being. And I – usually basking in the quiet of the season. The trees which had not long ago been so alive, so loudly singing the praises of life in summer breezes, now quietly adorning themselves with the color of sleep. The quiet is indeed overwhelming, the loam of browning grasses seem to soak up any remaining sounds of the year. That’s always when the geese come to say goodbye.
They first found me at the age of twelve, sitting along the bank of a child’s lake, dawbling and bobbling a small fly hook to the interest of a few tiny bluegill. “Goodbye John,” they said to me in voices I clearly understood. “We’ll come again once this pond has frozen and thawed again. Happy times, friend. Happy times.” And their trailing honks left me alone, their final formation a salute to our beginning friendship. I’ve returned to that spot many times during my life with that memory burgeoning from my seams. Not to fish. Just to remember a simpler time. It is truly just a pond.
Some years are more memorable than others – when they have come to say goodbye. The year of my marriage. The years that each of my children were born. The year my mother died. And father too. Those are the markers. I needn’t return to those memories. I live them everyday.
And what shall become of today’s encounter? When they flew low above with recognizable voices and said “Goodbye old friend, til another year new. We shall miss you.”
So shall I.
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And turn your eyes around, Where waving woods and waters wild Do hymn an autumn sound. The summer sun is faint on them — The summer flowers depart — Sit still — as all transform’d to stone, Except your musing heart. |
The Autumn, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning |
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October 15th, 2012 at 9:39 am
This is just lovely. How wonderful to have a friendship connection with nature… You’re just as much a part of their world, as they are in yours…such an enjoyable read.
October 15th, 2012 at 10:27 am
smiles….love your connection with nature man….as it should be…they mark another cycle of life…and we hope when the seasons change once more they return to us….hopefully we are as moved when they do…
October 15th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Autumn always reminds me of the cycle of life for sure; and autumn IS the season of good-byes. At first it is colorful with reds and yellows; and eventually it turns brown….before everything bares and it is winter. Yes, the geese. I think ours have fled too. Along with the robins. Along with the butterflies. Along with…so many things. The squirrels remain and are busy.
October 15th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
That is the most beautiful explanation of your relationship with the geese. I love that you understand their voices and also that they mark your life. You are blessed to that the geese have taken to you. Thank you for sharing this wonderful post.
October 15th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
really enjoyed this reflection… I’ve been in a similar place, but you’ve said it so well… thanks
October 17th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
This is so beautiful it gives me chills.
October 17th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
A lovely contemplation. Autumn is a very contemplative time, which you bring out beautifully here. k.
October 17th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Melancholic, creating that sense of loss that seems to accompany autumn. I enjoyed this so much and will take care of your geese when I join them in the California desert in January. :0)
October 17th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Oh John! Your prose is poetry! You take us into this season and the season of the internal landscape (mind) that feeds the soul.
How beautiful! The honking of the geese are markers not only for a passing season, but of a summation of the years of a life.
Blessings upon you, dear man.
Lady Nyo
October 18th, 2012 at 12:39 am
Such a connection has to be grand
There in your land
No matter the season
To love without reason
A passing sight
As they take flight
Heading into the night
Until the end of winter’s frostbite
As you begin to yearn
They will return
For the season will end
In the typical trend
Unless the world stops spinning
No one will be grinning
Stuck forever in the cold
Verse is pure gold
October 18th, 2012 at 3:28 am
Bravo again, Mr. Pat in the cat hat!
October 18th, 2012 at 5:42 am
this has such an almost fairy tale like quality..nature and myth combined with emotions and events that tuck on our soul strings…beautiful john
October 22nd, 2012 at 5:06 am
I enjoyed this. Well done!
October 26th, 2012 at 12:41 am
Love your connection with nature, beautiful.