The Reflection

Do you see the Reflection in the windows?

Tilly and her charges

Did you know that geese live to be over 40 years old? Mathilde, Tilly for short, was given to us 14 years ago. She was not welcome in her old neighborhood. Her constant calling disturbed the neighbors.

With us, Tilly had lots of company, many resident ducks and wild geese. Now and then she would raise a few orphans, all ducks. At night she would sound the alarm when raccoons came looking for an easy meal.

When the food trough was empty Tilly would knock on our kitchen door. And then she started knocking on the door whenever she was lonely.

She had been trying, without success, to steal a husband from one of the wild geese flocks. We found Leopold, a fine and handsome goose. They lived happily together for many years. And then one morning, Leopold didn't wake up. He had been slowing down. Maybe he was older than we thought. Even though Tilly had ignored Leopold at times, she was now inconsolable.

Tilly left the pond. For three days she stood in front of the greenhouse staring at her reflection in the glass panes. She thought it was Leopold hiding in the greenhouse, and she wanted him to come out.

How long was she going to stand there, without water, without food? We had to do something. A neighboring farm had 5 young geese for sale. We brought them home in a box and placed it near the greenhouse. When Tilly heard the little sounds she half ran, half flew to the box, turned it over and gathered all five goslings and off to the pond they hurried.

Oh, what happiness!

To be continued . . . .

Gina