Thursday was a beautiful day so I took the day off and Eve and I drove up to Amenia for a 21 mile bike ride.  The sun was blazing and the air was warm as we started along the Harlem Valley Rail trail past the farms and hills of Dutchess County.

We came upon an open stretch of the path with a lovely large pond bounded by a hill on the far side and the trail on the other.  In the distance we saw some geese and as we got closer saw a mommy and daddy and about three or four yellow little goose chicks.  Still closer, with Eve twenty yards behind me, I saw that they were trying to get to the pond but were blocked by a wire fence.

I rode past slowly thinking nothing of it when suddenly the big goose snarled and started after me in a sprint, its wings open.  I pushed harder on my pedal and the next second the goose was in the air neck outstreched gunning for my head.  He missed me by inches as I quickly sped away.

Eve hopped off her bike, shook her head, waved me off and backed up.  There was no way she was coming through the narrow paved path.  So were we at a stalemate, I on one side, she on the other, and the geese between us frantically trying to get through the fence.  After a few minutes, the little babies pushed themselves through the holes in the fence and waddled into the pond.  That only made the parents more frantic as they couldn't fit through.

The babies safely through and not threated, I waved Eve on.  Not a chance.  She had no interest in testing the very distressed mommy goose.  I wondered how long we would both be standing there, neither of us willing to go past them.  I thought if I approaced them maybe they would fly up the three feet to get over the fence, but after another minute they figured that out on their own.

It reminds me of story from thirty years ago when my mother and her new husband, my step father, were at their beach house.  It was my first trip there and my step father thought I was overstaying my welcome.  He told my mother he wanted to spend some time with her alone and he asked me to leave.  She did not like that very much and she left too grabbing the car keys, and leaving him alone in the house for the rest of the weekend.  He is luckly she didn't bite him.

The lesson.   Don't mess with a mommy protecting her cubs.