It seems to me that somehow Mother’s Day, the one day guaranteed to make Mom feel all warm and fuzzy, has now morphed into Mother’s Day weekend, and, in radio ads I even heard it referred to as Mother’s Week. Well, in my opinion, I say … why not? Never pass up the opportunity to pay homage to your Mom if she is still alive and make her feel special, because after all, you owe your very existence to her.

As I walked to the Park this morning, I was thinking about Mother’s Day. I was hoping to find a Canada Goose with her goslings and take their picture to accompany my post today. However, I figured the wildlife would be scarce at Council Point Park today since the Lincoln Park Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, was scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. I know from last year, it is a hubbub of activity 24/7 at the Park for two solid days. I planned to arrive fairly early and walk a few laps before it got crowded. But as I drew near I heard a loud speaker booming out, the parking lots were filled to capacity and there were at least twenty tents pitched around the more open portion of the Park. There were massive floodlights everywhere and stands set up for the luminaria bags which will be lit when darkness falls. The smell of fresh hot coffee lingered in the air and people were bustling about, scurrying to and fro with coolers, camp chairs and cameras.

So, as I set out on the perimeter path, I figured I’d stay on only the one side this weekend, away from all the festivities. Along the way, I called out “good morning” or remarked on the beautiful day to all the “regulars”, and a young fellow riding his mountain bike laughed every time he passed me by, and he said “they really like you” since I had a passel of peanut pals trailing along behind me at any given time. Besides peanuts in the shell, I had toted a half-bag of crumbled up bread, having made a pit stop the other day at Meijer, and I was more than willing to share it with whatever water fowl came my way. Again, the ducks were not present at what used to be their usual gathering place, but at least a dozen Canada Geese were grazing in the lush green grass in the “donut hole” or center of the perimeter path. I reached into the bag and tossed out a handful or two, and the gaggle of geese lifted their heads up from the grass to see what I was offering. Well, they just about inhaled that bread in a matter of seconds, so I tossed another handful, and then who should come along but Mama and Papa with their brood? I couldn’t have planned that better! Still another handful of bread was thrown and the goslings soon toddled over and nibbled delicately at the bread tidbits. In one swift motion, I hurriedly tossed out some more and grabbed the camera. By now, several of the walkers had stopped and whipped out their camera phones and soon a half-dozen people were checking out the fuzzy chicks and their parents through the camera lens instead of their peepers. That’s okay because when they returned home today, they had a warm and fuzzy story and picture to share with their loved ones on this Mother’s Day weekend.