from the Archives, "Gus-Gus the Goose"

Double Take. Was it real or a wind up toy?

That’s what went through my mind as I watched this tiny little creature intrepidly making its way over the black top of a busy parking lot outside our favorite little restaurant, the Sundance Café, in Dubois, Wyoming.

It was not a wind up, but a little, green-gray gosling fresh out of Horse Creek. Lost? Obviously.

Aspen and I tried to herd it back to the river. Ever tried to herd a goose? Impossible! So I swooped it up, put him in my coat and trooped over to the creek, to its siblings, the goose and gander.

Unfortunately they panicked, and off they went. Into the creek went the gosling, tweeting and twittering for his family as they went in opposite directions: gander upstream, goose and goslings bobbing down stream. He caught the current, but wouldn’t stay in it and back to shore he came. I put him in again, straining to see if the goose had stopped, but she was rounding the bend and quickly out of sight.

I couldn’t just walk away. My heart told me something wasn’t right. The little guy wouldn’t stay in the river. So I watched. Downstream it promptly found the shore, and out it came, fearlessly making its way into a motel parking lot.

That was enough. I couldn’t stand it. I made tracks for him, gathered him up with all the mommy instincts I had and took him home. On the way we discovered it had a blind eye.

We don’t know if it is a boy or girl, but we know that Gus-Gus is safe and sound. Swimming in his pool( a huge iron skillet) in the kitchen, tucked into our shirts and an old wool sock to keep him warm (he was only a day or so old when he was found). He even has a playpen made out of gated pipe in the yard so he can go outside.

Our little lost and found recognizes our voices and comes excitedly when it sees us. Can you imagine what Gus-Gus is going to be like in six months? Irrigating partner, playmate, loyal goose friend (yes, we know the downside… goose poop, honking, swimming in Aspen’s pool….)

Gus-Gus, a subtle but noisy reminder of how precious and wonderful life is!

Originally published on the first contemporarywesterndesign.com site May 2007