swan song
Driving to town the other day, I spotted a beautiful swan in a small pond. I pointed it out to my daughter, and several days later I was surprised to see that same swan, in the same pond, again.
Later I realized that the swan was probably introduced there to keep away the Canada geese that plague our subdivisions. You see, the geese are fun to watch, but they are huge birds that stick around for the whole season. They leave minefields of dog-sized droppings, and getting caught under a flying flock could be darnright hazardous–can you imagine?
They generally become a nuisance after the novelty wears off, and folks will go to great lengths to rid their property of these beasts birds.
Apparently swans deter the geese, so by introducing a pair, you replace gaggles of geese pooping everywhere with romantic beauty (unless they get angry, but let’s not go there today).
This particular swan looked lonely to me. I was feeling sad for the poor guy (gal?), and pondered how his wings were probably clipped to keep him in that puddle-sized pond. It wasn’t the romantic life I envisioned for this storybook animal. I mused over this for days.
We drove by again the other day, and I mentioned to my family how much sympathy I felt for the swan.
My 13 year old looked at me, bemused.
“What?” I said. “You don’t believe me? They really do clip their wings, you know.”
“Mom?” he said — very carefully — “go take another look at that bird.”
I argued for while, but then I went back to investigate.
Sure enough, this is what I found:
Well then. I was fooled by a decoy.
Don’t judge me — at least we won’t be stepping on goose poo.
Have you ever been distracted by something that was just a decoy?
photo credit: Chris & Lara Pawluk
Yes. My current post is all about distraction. And I’m pretty sure anything that isn’t leading you toward your top (eternal) priorities is a decoy.
charrette’s last blog post..Standing Still and Motion Sick
That made me laugh out loud. And of course your post itself was a distraction because I followed the link to YouTube and spent a happy few minutes looking at videos of angry swans. They can indeed be nasty – a swan’s wing is strong enough to break a child’s arm. But not a plastic one…
Tess’s last blog post..Not “no comment”
Glad you could get some pleasure from my folly. I watched too many of those videos too. Did you see the one with the bride? It’s a bit tacky, but I’ll throw it in here.
Charette: On a more noble note, I loved your post about how to stay centered amidst the commotion. Dear readers, I highly recommend Charette’s post on Divergent Pathways.
And it would help if I spelled Charrette correctly.
This was so funny. I love it. I can’t think of a decoy story of my own, but I know I’ve done this. Been kind of shocked by an “animal” that’s actually just plastic.
Heather of the EO’s last blog post..From the Mouth of Miles
This was great! We get geese by our pond and we used to shoo them away every year. It wasn’t until I saw the movie, Fly Away Home, that I quit trying to rid our yard of our geese. Now every year one pair faithfully returns to have a family. Yes, we put up with the poop! But the beauty of the pair coming ‘home’ every year far outweighs the dirty stuff they leave behind.
Annie’s last blog post..Turned On By Hope