NEWS FLASH! Geese Employ Day Care and Crossing Guards!

Turns out there’s more to geese than the prodigious production of green, slimy poop. Who knew?

The road that leads to my house passes near a small pond with farm land across from it. Living on that pond is a fairly large gaggle of geese. What I’ve discovered is that, like their cousins the chickens, geese apparently feel the need to cross the road to get to the other side. I’ve been told the reason they venture away from their ponds is that geese need to eat rocks for digestion, but I’m thinking that’s just a nasty rumor, engaged by goose haters to besmirch goosely intelligence.

Whatever, whether you like geese or not, I can assure you, they are far from stupid. I mean, despite the fact that they spend an inordinate amount of time crossing asphalt, when was the last time you saw a goose splatted on the road?. You can’t remember can you? That’s because they rarely are. Like small, feathered OSHA-ites, they build safety into their environment. They make use of crossing guards to keep themselves safe during their travels.

I. Do. Not. Lie.

I was coming home one day and was stopped by a line of geese crossing the road in front of me. I waited patiently for them to cross, smiling at their general goofiness.

That’s when I first noticed the crossing guard goose.

A single goose stood at the center of the line, pacing back and forth as the other geese crossed. As the line neared its end, the guard goose flapped its wings and did a cocky, self important strut off the road, staying pretty much even with the last three geese in the line.

Like a school crossing guard.

I tucked this amazing phenomenon away with the other tidbits I knew about geese: that they fly in a vee formation to increase speed and limit wind resistance, switching the on-point spot frequently to rest the wings of the lead bird; and that they utilize day care to ensure their mush-brained youngsters don’t wander away and get splatted; thereby completely blowing my entire example to prove how smart geese are.

I appreciate that.

No really, goose day care does exist. I saw it with my own eyes.

One day, when the winged rock connoisseurs were again across the road in their favorite field, apparently eating rocks, though I continue to harbor doubt on that issue. I cast my gaze over the gaggle, looking for the tiny goslings I’d seen a couple of weeks earlier.

They weren’t so tiny anymore.

I found them a little ways away from the adults, looking suitably mush brained. One adult goose stood with them, at the front of the group, as if presenting the daily lesson at goose school.

This was the day care goose.

One would presume, though I don’t know for sure, that, as they do in vee formation, the day care goose is swapped out periodically, lest the unfortunate creature fling itself onto a large platter covered in orange sauce in a desperate attempt to escape dunderhead duty.

Why did I bring this up to you today, you ask? Welllll…mostly because I find it wildly interesting. But also to prove a point. And the point is this: I think it’s safe to say that most people wouldn’t look at a bunch of geese in a field or crossing a road and see crossing guards and day care geese. That’s a unique perspective. Which brings me to my actual point, which is:

Great fiction is built upon a unique perspective, enhanced by the careful application of fun and interesting knowledge.

This is the basis for everything I write. Fantasy or suspense…adult or young adult. It’s my credo. I find the unique perspective in every story I write and provide lots of fun tidbits throughout to make the story more interesting. I recently observed on Twitter that I thought zip lines were invented so that writers have a great new place to hang a dead body. Unique perspective? Definitely. Reason for a straight jacket? Perhaps. Interesting? Hopefully.

As an ARe reviewer recently said, “Author Sam Cheever doesn’t do boring. Sam Cheever doesn’t do ordinary…”.

I love this observation, because it precisely describes my intentions. It’s always sweet to be understood. #:0)

Happy Reading, everybody!

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ABOUT ME!!!

Website: www.SamCheever.com

eMail me at: samcheever at samcheever dot com

My published work includes 20+ works of young adult, romantic suspense, and fantasy/paranormal. My books have won the Dream Realm Award for fantasy, been nominated and/or won several CAPAs, were nominated for Best of 2010 with LRC and The Romance Reviews, and won  eCataromance’s Reviewer’s Choice award. I am published with Ellora’s Cave, both Romantica and Blush, Electric Prose Publications (my own imprint), and Red Rose Publishing. I look forward to chatting with you today and sharing some of my work!

"Ms. Cheever writes with class, humor and lots of fun while weaving an excellent story."
~The Romance Studio

Check out all of my Books on my fabulous website, located HERE!