Where There's Smoke

I got as far as the Gorge and saw that there was something swimming there.  Wouldn't you know it - I'd taken neither my camera nor cell phone.  I could tell one was a Canadian goose.  Strange, don't think I'd ever seen Canadian geese on the pond.  The other thing was a dark mass laying on top of the water - muskrat maybe.  As I got closer I saw that the dark mass was another Canadian goose but one w/ it's neck and head laid low in the water.  I had seen a duck do that once in a vain attempt to go unnoticed but never a goose.  It stayed that way the entire time I walked around the east side of the pond.  Was at the far end of the pond when Whip went stiff legged and started barking.  There was a truck on my neighbor's land and someone walking through an old stand of corn.  The figure was working his way in my general direction so I decided to walk down the hill and see what he was up to.    (Neighbor Anita and I had just been discussing how rural people take a great interest in everything that happens on their neighbor's property.)   The man introduced himself as Ryan.  He'd been helping my neighbor w/ a fence and been allowed to hunt sheds on his property.  He asked if he could look for them on my land and I said sure.  The nasty thing about sheds is if you are driving through high grass and don't see them, they can puncture a tire.  Plus, as Ryan put it, it's a fun hobby that keeps him out of the bars.  Whip and I went on our way which ended up crossing the western edge of the Gorge.  I looked through the trees to see if I could get a different angle on the geese.   Located them.  The goose that I thought might be ill or hurt had it's head up and was swimming w/ it's mate.  Life is good.