The Sweet Sixteen

It's not a great picture, but I finally got a photo of the biggest family of geese I have ever seen. When I first reported it last week, (sounds like I work for The Daily Chronicle), I thought there were 14. I know my math skills stink, but I should be able to count up to 16 if I take off both pairs of socks.

As my wife Lisa likes to say..." Can you imagine?" If the average family is 5-6 goslings, this would equate to a human mother having triplets. How do you keep track of all 16? How do you keep their names straight? " Now Dasher, now Prancer, now Comet, Now Vixen...". If you're in an area with another goose family...how would you even know if a stray little goose joined your brood? Can geese count? So many questions...so few answers. I get just a little glimpse of what the octo-mom went through when she was bombarded by endless questions. Ha.

A few good things about coming from a family of 16 kids. As they get older, they'll always have back-up. " Tell me you're not picking on our baby sister!" As I looked over the babies, there looked to be about 4 runts. If there are bullies in the group...which runt do you pick on? Just using sheer numbers...If I'm a family of 6 or 8, and I see a family of 18 approaching, I'm doing a nice bow and asking, "Can I get you guys anything? How about some nice fresh green grass? I'll pull it up for you."

Back in the day... my three kids wore me out. Today, my 7 month old grandson tires me out, even when he's asleep. Best of luck to this mom and dad as they raise this mega-family. As we all know...there are many perils out there. I hope they can avoid them all. I hope they can keep track of all those babies, especially if they find themselves in a busy mall or airport. Ha again.