Goose Patrol

This next tidbit is a source of some contention. Ownership has been denied by, but clearly is attributable to, Billy or my mother.

My parents have a goose problem. They (the geese, not my parents) poop all over the backyard and they make an enormous amount of noise. If you've seen A Christmas Story, my father feels about the geese the way that Ralphie's dad feels about the Bumpus dogs.

Every year, various things are used to prevent the geese from getting into the yard - BB guns, a fence erected along the water's edge, and just plain chasing. Jack loves to participate in the goose chasing. He keeps a vigilant watch out from the back windows and will happily alert anyone if there are geese nearing the property. Here he is inspecting the fence with Lulu.


And recently, when the geese were honking away, as they are wont to do at inopportune times, he looked at us and said "The geese are bitching at Lulu." Go ahead, laugh. It's funny when your kid swears. In our family, the phrase "the geese are bitching" has now become a metaphor for any of the irritating people that pop up in your daily routine. It works. Feel free to use it.