Living Under the Flight Pattern

 

Living Under the Flight Pattern

Noel Laflin

11-25-22

We get geese flying over our neighborhood at all hours of the day and night.

I was on a call with a friend recently when a gaggle let loose with their honking.

“What’s the racket I hear,” he asked.

“Geese leaving the pond,” I said.

“It’s nearly midnight,” he mumbled in surprise.

“Happens all the time here,” I replied.

“Huh,” he concluded.

The sound of Canadian geese flying at midnight is kind of cool.  I thought I might have been imagining it in the beginning, years ago, but neighbors back me up on the claim, as they hear it too. Sometimes the birds seem to be heading north (probably on their way to the big lagoon at Yorba Linda Regional Park), and sometimes they seem to be heading more northwest with the large pond at Eisenhower Park in the old town that was once known as Olive, as their destination. They don’t even seem to need moonlit skies to help them – just the Big Dipper and the North Star is guide enough. Or the lights down on Chapman, maybe.

Meanwhile, our little old reservoir is home to upwards of 50 or so most days.

But when they chatter and honk their intentions, before and after takeoff, either day or night, it’s a wonderful sound. And when it interrupts your dreams at the Witching Hour, it’s downright spooky – but in a good way.