I was glad to be back at the Park this morning after yesterday’s rain ruined my morning walk. I left the house in shirtsleeves, since, during the last three outings, I shucked my sweater on the first loop. Well, that was a mistake as it was windy and I ended up with goose bumps. So, I walked faster to work up a sweat. That is, until I saw the whole Canada Goose family ahead of me and I stopped to check them out and persuade them to pose for me. Mission accomplished – take a look above. Since I last saw the trio of goslings about a week ago, they have doubled in size. Well “leggy” is nice if you’re a supermodel, but it looks a little funny on a gosling. At this stage, they look gangly and out of proportion, and … yes, even rather homely. Gone is that cuddly, gee-I-wish-I-could-scoop-you-up-and-take-you-home-with-me look they had when I first saw them on Mother’s Day weekend. Just a few more weeks ‘til they resemble their parents and probably will have the attitudes and big mouths that rival their folks’ dispositions. For now, however, it appears they’ve not yet learned the fine art of hissing and wing-flapping at their cohorts and how to honk non-stop. Give them time as they are adolescents after all, so there is bound to be push-back of some type. Now, everyone has heard the story of the ugly duckling, and I sure wouldn’t disparage these teenaged goslings, except for the fact that I’ve been there myself. There are some pictures in the old family albums (and where they shall repose permanently) and I sure didn’t look like anyone’s “darling” either. I remember well the angst of those awkward years … homely, with bad hairdos running the gamut of bangs cut on an angle giving me a rather spaced-out or quizzical look, bizarre-looking curls which were the result of a bad Toni home perm and let’s not forget that I was a victim of those hated cat-eye glasses which I started wearing on my 7th birthday. My school pictures in eighth grade were so bad my parents didn’t buy them. I was crushed. After all I was your only child and what a blow to my ego at the time! Of course my mom would remind me through the years that “beauty is only skin deep” as if that was the magic balm to soothe my wounded pre-teen and teenage psyche. I look forward to seeing the grown-up goslings in future walks … they will be sleek and beautiful geese who will graze and walk the same grounds as me and I probably won’t even recognize them. A wiser person than me tells it like it is: Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. ~~Confucius