Spend a Summer Day

It was late May and spring was starting to slide into summer. In fact, any date on the calendar that falls on Memorial Day or after is summer in my book, no matter what the official people who are in charge of these things may say.

A number of the local state parks are open and the beaches are available for swimming, so we threw a few things in the car and headed for Whipple Dam State Park, which may just be my favorite local swimming area. On this day, I would eventually make my way into the water for the first bone-chillingly cold and delightfully refreshing swim of the year. Hello, summer!

But we made a detour first, though, to have a hearty breakfast at Eat 'n Park. Having a real breakfast on a week day is a rare treat indeed: two eggs over medium, several strips of bacon, crispy hash browns, and Italian toast with butter.

When we proceeded to the park afterwards, we decided we needed a little time to let our breakfast settle before jumping in swimming. So I took my camera and noodled around the edge of the water while my husband sat by a picnic table reading a book.

I was watching for dragonflies, of course, as this is one of my favorite dragonfly spots. However, it is apparently a bit early in the season for them. I only saw a few, and they were the fast, early, expedient kind, never stopping to rest.

However, what I did spy, along the edge of the lake, was a pair of Canada geese. Then I looked more closely and realized they had three fuzzy little babies with them.

The goose family made their way along the banks, sometimes cruising in the water, sometimes walking on the land. The goslings were adorable, still fuzzy and fluffy and yellow, and they were everywhere, into everything. I couldn't take my eyes off them.

One of the things I marveled at was what good parents the two adult geese were. The little ones were clearly their pride and joy, and the parents kept very close track of them. One parent or the other was never more than a foot away from the little ones (or even closer), a proximity you can witness yourself in this photo.

In fact, at most times, the two adults had the babies pretty well surrounded. To get to the little ones, you'd have to go through one of the adults first. *gulp!* A daunting thought, indeed. Best we leave those fuzzy little babies alone, then, and just admire them from a distance!

The soundtrack to accompany the image of these little ones being escorted along the water by one of their parents (the other parent is just out of frame to the left) is legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble with their classic rocking blues tune, Pride and Joy.

The link above is to the live version recorded in Montreux in 1982. And let's conclude with a fun little Stevie Ray Vaughan quote that gave me a good giggle: "I actually wanted to be a drummer, but I didn't have any drums."