A bold goose begins to waddle up to me, looking almost adorably curious, and shaking droplets of water off of him as he goes. It is twilight and my vantage point is perfect to observe not only our unofficial avine mascots but also the exiting sun over the campus. Today, the clouds look like Shannon took a purple paintbrush and threw strokes across her palette of the evening sky.
It is at times of this breathtaking aerial beauty such as this that I can truly appreciate the stark barrenness of the trees, because they become a frame and an enhancement to the myriad of colors splashed across the evening sky.
I look up, attention diverted to a specific tree above me, as some leaves fall into the lake. Could it be? No. Not yet. It is too early for those to be buds. They are only those funny, spiky balls that I think are supposed to be leaves?
The birds have forgotten my existence by now and are entirely absorbed in the lengthy task of cleaning themselves. I’m trying to imagine what it’d be like to have as flexible of a neck as theirs, and a whole new world just opened up! Imagine with me for a second. Back tattoos? Totally reasonable now that you can see them. People trying to scare you? Gone. The cricks in your neck that happen when you’re trying to talk to a person in the back seat from the front? No longer!
Oh, goose. What lucky creatures are you.
Back from my musings, this time of day (night?) might be my absolute favorite. A kind of stillness lays over the water and over the people strolling by me like an invisible fog. The day is done.