It was a warm, sunny spring day.The air was clear but not crisp or harsh. There weren't many bugs out yet, so it was wonderful in the evening. Suddenly my brothers came running into the house.

          "Where's dad?" they asked, breathless and full of excitement. They had been exploring and shooting slingshots around in the yard. I think life on a "wildlife farm" is how 11-year old boys envision heaven. When mom told them dad was gone and wouldn't be back for an hour, both of their faces fell.

           "Oh...Darn.We wanted to take the rubber raft out on the pond. We think  we saw a dead goose and we wanted to....go get it," they explained slowly, not knowing how mom might react.

          "Well," mom started with a very calm tone,"Maybe you can go with dad after dinner and Bibletime." Both boys looked surprised. Mom asked them why they looked like that.

           "Well, other moms would be like-" for this they put on high pitched voices,"EEEEWWWW!!!!! Don't go back there!!! Oh honey stay away!! A dead goose!!! When your father gets home....."

           When our father did get home the boys could hardly contain their excitement. They had already pumped up the raft and had gotten everything ready.

           After a delicious dinner and Bible time, the boys were just itching to go. I came along carring the camera and a lifejacket (just in case), while the boys and dad carried the raft. As we walked along,I took some pictures. We passed by one of the swamps and saw a duck and drake swiming around.

           We got to the woods shortly after and on the pond we immediatly saw a goose. The pond was surrounded by a swamp, which was flooded because of the melted snow. I stayed fairly dry by standing on various mounds covered with tall grasses.

            I stood on the shore and watched the boys take off their shoes and peel off their socks so as not to get them wet. The raft didn't move when they stepped in. Dad had to push them out, getting his feet wet in the process, before he got in.

            The goose we had first seen had filled the woods with his honking. It echoed back and seemed to be a warning . A deer creeped along the oppisite bank. Birds chattered anxiously.

             The boys had rowed quietly to the goose assumed to be dead, when it honked, jumped off its nest, and started swiming towards its partner.

            "Oh man! Its alive!" They yelled, half to me and half in excitement to themselves. Kyle told me later that he had looked in the nest, but that there were no visible eggs. He explained that the nest was on a tree that had fallen on its side, making a sort of island with its expossed roots. The roots were still covered with dirt on top of which was the nest. The nest itself was made of sticks and down feathers and was about the size of a basketball.

             After that, they paddled back to the swampy shore with both alarmed geese still honking to beat the band. The boys hopped out into the marshy water, sloshed around to their shoes and pulled the raft up on shore. Now was when they wanted a dock going out to the pond, so they wouln't have to have a long, wet slog through the swamp.

             The sun was setting as we walked home and recounted our fun adventure to the rest of the family and though the boys didn't get, or even see a dead goose, I think they still had fun paddling through the swamp.

This happened in the middle of April. I wrote it the very same day, but it was the editing and rewriting that made it take so long for me to post it.