One of the things I enjoy about autumn is the apparent heightening of the senses. The increased humidity means smells loiter in the air. As the sun moves out of the way a bit, colors seem brighter. Cooler weather means more baked goods in the oven and stews that simmer a while, heightening our enjoyment of foods we haven’t enjoyed for a season. The sparse leaves block less sound; it travels farther and seems to linger longer in the damp.

Yester-eve I carried some leftovers out for the night creatures and discovered a plethora of birds waiting in the dense cover. The Juncos (snowbirds) are here already and joined the cardinals and jays in the pip-pip of settling down for the night.

I also heard an unusual bird sound I couldn’t quite pinpoint. The guttural, vibrating call was unfamiliar though I instinctively knew it was a bird. I stood still, trying to figure out where it came from and to see if I could spot the caller. The sound seemed to be moving from left to right.

Finally, I looked up. The noisemakers had arrived en masse and in flight. There were four big “V” formations of geese strung across the evening sky, merrily honking their way south.

Geese make me think of people, traveling in a crowd. Their lines are jaggedly forming, breaking and reforming. They seem to have a great deal to discuss.

“Have you been this way before? How long is the trip? Are there good places to stop over? Do you think it will be a long winter? Are your children with you?”

Two hundred geese make a dramatic impact on the evening sky. Autumn wouldn’t be the same without them and I feel blessed to be in their audience.

* Photo of migrating geese by Brocken Inaglory, shared on Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snow_geese_and_ducks_at_sunset.jpg