10.04.2011

{story} messenger geese

early one morning, i was driving through the rolling hills of napa on my way to school. the sun was just coming up over the mountains. the landscape was awash in pink light. lush vineyards, golden grass, and gnarled oak trees were all bathed in a rosy glow.

as i drove, a song started to play which reminded me of my dad. he had died two years before, and the pain of missing him was still fresh. witnessing the beautiful view and hearing the memory-filled music created an instantaneous ache in my heart.

full of this feeling, i rounded a curve onto an empty stretch of road. my arrival there startled a huge flock of canadian geese who had been resting in a field. my presence caused them to excitedly launch into the air, a chaotic flap-fest of wings...



my mouth dropped open in awe. canadian geese were my father's favorite bird. he absolutely adored them. we had prints, photographs, sculptures of these creatures all over my childhood home. i could not recall ever seeing them in napa, yet here they were in this spectacular moment.

tears started to fall as i felt longing and sadness for my dad. i regarded this as a small sign of our timeless connection. it made me miss him terribly.

suddenly, the entire flock of geese, who had been flying away, switched direction and started to fly toward me. i was dumbfounded by this and could only stare in amazement as they approached my car. my heart almost exploded from the majesty of the whole scene.

and then...

they flew directly overhead and a giant load of goose poo hit my windshield.

a truly enormous amount of poo.

in fact, it was so much poo that i had to use the wipers and a significant supply of cleaning fluid to be able to see the road.

this made me laugh with total abandon.

my dad was a hilariously funny guy. he loved laughter, teasing, jokes, and fun.

this incident was just the sort of silliness he created whenever things got too serious. if i had been a sniffly mess over something as sentimental as this scene, he would have done something ridiculous to make me smile.

hence, the goose bomb.

i laughed all the way to school.

i laughed while i wrote this.

i'm still laughing...

{note: this is the second story i have written involving otherworldly communication through bird excrement. in case you missed the first one, here it is.}

5 comments:

elena nuez said...

thanks for this lovely moment!!
really like so much!!!

a big hug,
elena

pigwidget said...

If you listen, you might just be able to hear me laughing hysterically all the way from up here! Great tale :) It makes me glad that only birds nad geese can fly. Imagine the mess that cows would make! :D

Laughing with you all hte way from BC, xo B

faerian said...

that is the perfect holy moment - magnificent, irreverent, true...

i think i love you powerful bird medicine woman!

diane said...

elena...as always, your words make me smile. a big hug right back! <3 <3 <3

beka...i do hear your laughter and i appreciate it soooooo much! it's a lovely happy sound. xo

faerian...oh yes! a holy moment indeed. i love you right back, powerful painter and weaver of stories!

Anonymous said...

I love this story! He is definitely watching over you and wanted you to start your day with a smile instead of a tear.