i'm not a goose

its too warm today for october. it should be all cidery and pumpkiny, but instead its the windows open and faint leftover smell of summer. still, sitting here in my office with the windows open gives me the opportunity to hear the concert going on outside. and so i'm thankful for the warmth. otherwise i would have missed it.

the geese are quite talkative today. there is a river that runs right behind the church and the geese are often here during the day. i think there are other rowdier spots where they go for nights and weekends, but during the day they seem contrite enough to gather near the big white church in the shadow of the steeple. and they swim and look for things to eat and talk. alot.

i don't know enough about animals to really understand if they are somehow communicating to one another with those throaty honks, but today, as i sit perched in my second floor office, i can't help but wonder what those sounds say to me.

i am busy. way too busy. i have too much to do and way too little time to do it. i'm afraid this is often a way of life rather than an occasional circumstance. i'm sure you know what i am talking about. i think most of us are there most of the time: overwhelmed. and that is where i am today. but as i was fracturing my to-do list into several mini to-do lists, marking them with various notations that indicate priority and timing and really do nothing to help me get the work actually accomplished but do help me feel better about it, i was jarred out of the land of overwhelmation by a cacophony of honking. not traffic. but geese.

i was struck by the blatant juxtaposition of my stressed and frenzied life with the relaxed life of the chatty geese outside my window. i sometimes feel this way about my dog. "oh, what a life," i'll say. "he just gets to eat and sleep and not worry about getting things done." and while one could argue that a life in which all we do is eat and sleep lacks a few important aspects of human life, there is something to be said for the simplicity of the animals.

today, i wish i were more like a goose. i just want to float in the river awhile. when i get the urge i might stick my head under that brown river to look for a tasty morsel or two to roll around in my mouth for awhile. or, if i start to feel a little stiff in my bones, i might stretch out my wings a bit and play a game of chase with that goose over by the reeds. or maybe i'll sleep for awhile in the sun, resting contentedly in my part in this great cosmic circle of living.

but i'm not a goose. i'm alot of things todayi, but not a goose. and i am anything but resting contentedly in the glorious gift of being alive. i am too busy to even notice i'm alive. but the geese are trying their best to remind me.

and so, my word for myself (and maybe for you, too) today is slow down. take a breath for a moment and recognize the exquisite glory of this moment. and then do what you need to do.

greg.