Animal Attack!

DISCLAIMER: Okay, okay, okay -- this isn’t from my hike. Just a short story until I start :)

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Winters in Indiana are tough. The sun can disappear for weeks in a row and temperatures are cold. As a remedy, my friends and I started a weekly ‘family dinner’ night where we’d cook dinner and eat (you guessed it) family style. It became tradition to ask a question of the group each Thursday after our bellies were full. 

Questions ranged from ‘if you could live anywhere, where would you live’ to ‘which celebrity could you beat in a fight’. My favorite question came on the last family dinner before departing on my trip: 

Would you rather fight 5,000 duck-sized horses or 5 horse-sized ducks? 

This sparked serious (and funny) debate. My answer that night was to fight 5,000 duck-sized horses. 

Fast forward a week, I am on my last run in Fort Wayne on my favorite 6-mile route. I’d spent the run deep in my thoughts about the upcoming adventure and leaving the city I’d called home for the last 9 years. Out of nowhere, I sense something in my peripherals, look up, and see a goose with its wings spread about to land on me. I duck (and yell something that probably rhymes with my action) as the goose narrowly misses me, lands, and begins to immediately chase me. It’s hissing triggered me into a full sprint where it chased me for what felt like a 100 yards but was probably only 10 feet. 

My heart was pounding, but my first thought was: My answer at family dinner was right. I’d rather fight 5,000 duck-sized horses than 5 horse-sized goose looking things. 

ps…. For as long as this link is active, here’s a visual: Geese Attack! (Thanks Derek)