birds are so weird

This morning I headed out to conquer the streets of Caribou in my running shoes, to enjoy fresh air and the sunshine. A slight chill hung in the air and within the first 2 minutes of my run I discovered my music player was out of batteries and I would be lacking tunage for the rest of my journey. My feet often take me to strange places when I run, as I often challenge myself not to take the same root over and over again. With so many side streets and directions to run in I like to explore, discover and enjoy my time outside.

For no particular reason my feet took me on a journey to Collin's Pond this morning and mid stride I stopped with a thought that I needed to sit on the little bench facing the pond. Thinking this strange, but certainly not out of the ordinary, I sat and watched the Canadian geese swimming and entertaining themselves in the water. Looking up, I felt like falling backwards and yelling "INCOMING!!!" as two herds (not sure if that's the appropriate animal term) of Canadian geese came hurdling through the air, apparently towards me, but realistically towards the pond. Flopping around like toddlers learning to walk, their bodies swayed back and forth in the air, wings flapping furiously to stay balanced during descent. I chuckled at the site of these silly birds. Never had I seen something so ridiculous. They landed in waves, water shooting up, like a dance of some sort...some of the birds got a little too confident and ahead of themselves and toppled face forward into the water, sumersaulting their way back to the surface.

This moment was absolutely priceless. I marveled at God's creation all around me as my eyes found a strange, peculiar gray bird, lonely but swift. I watched as it tip-toed it's way across a log, careful not to get completely into the water, safe behind the shelter of some cat-tails and apparently aggravated at the thousands of Canadian birds who had decided to invade his space. Too bad for him though, he was way out numbered. This too made me chuckle.

Things got better as I told the Lord how I wished I could see the geese land like that again, because I'd never seen anything quite like it. Looking away from my grumpy grey friend I found another swarm of geese pummeling their way into the pond..they must've miscalculated their landing, because they came near the water and began screaming in alarm, swooping back up and taking one more circle around the pond, landing in the opposite direction this time. To me, I'd equate the experience like that of a pilot preparing to land a small plane with a good friend in the back and as he pulls near the ground, he screams *just kidding* and takes another sweep through the sky. People on the ground would naturally wonder what in the world was going on and the followers of the pack or in this example the pilot's friend would probably scream in alarm. I'm telling you, these birds are strange.

Now, to end this rather lengthy and odd post on an even stranger note...just when I thought I'd seen it all a small bird appeared fluttering over the water and it stopped. Now when I say stop, I mean for like 5 seconds it's wings didn't move, at all. This caught my attention quickly enough to see the bird's wings flapping wildly like a blender for another 5 seconds. Then it froze and dropped towards the water. I saw a little splash, you know the kind that makes the "ploop" sound. I wondered if it had died. Much to my surprise, but suiting the days already strange theme quite perfectly, the little creature flew out of the water and began bobbing up and down. This little one reminded me of the kid at the pool party who always makes everyone excited when he runs towards the water screams *cannonball!* and knocks half the water out of the pool.

I'm thankful the Lord sat me down for a good laugh and chance to appreciate His creation today. Even though it was my strangest run ever, which eventually turned into a walk...I'd have to say it was one of my favorite.