No Social Distancing

The only sign of geese in Hawaii

The Hawaiian (or Nene) goose is descended from the more common Canadian goose. This extremely rare endangered bird (estimated that only 32 existed in 1952) became the state bird of Hawaii in 1957. Although we saw lots of chickens during our 17 days in Hawaii in the summer of 2013, we only saw a few signs of the nearly extinct Nene goose. It is rumored that some of the existing 2,500 birds worldwide live in England today.

Compared  to its ancestor from Canada, the Hawaiian version is very soft spoken. Its chirp has been compared to an infant crying or even a cow mooing. It is thought by some to be the guardian spirit of the Islands. I had the privilege of seeing Canadian geese close up and photographable in the marshy fields along the Mississippi River in the 70s. I was playing hooky with a few male colleagues from the statewide teachers conference in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Several of us went in one door of the arena, checked in with our principal, and sneaked out another exit on our way to the goose refuge a few miles away. There was a rest stop for geese on their southern migration in the fall of each year.

I won't bore you with details of how the geese flight patterns save energy, help one another when injured, and honk encouragement when tiring. Many positive lessons can be learned from these wild fowl. The photos illustrate they care little about social distancing on the ground or in their recognizable V patterns during flight. They are a beautiful part of God's Creation especially when they flock together.

No social distancing during rest stops

V pattern of flight