The Quilt Inn Country Cookbook

Aliske Webb

Follow-wing The Leader

Michael and I were sitting on the porch the other day, enjoying some early warm

Spring weather. High overhead a flock of Canadian Geese were circling, preparing to

land in the pond, to pause and refresh, before continuing their long journey North. The

famous V-formation is a familiar and welcome sight, albeit a curious one. Although a

lot of birds flock and fly together, geese seem to be the only birds with such an

organized flight path.

Scientists and aerodynamic experts discovered that the geese fly in this pattern

for a very good reason: as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird

immediately behind. By flying in V-formation, the whole flock adds at least 70% greater

flying range than if each bird flew alone. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it

suddenly feels increased drag and air resistance, so it quickly gets back into formation

to take advantage of the lifting power of the other birds in the flock.

This is really good news for heavy birds with a long way to go, like geese. I

wonder why they don’t teach other birds to do likewise. And how about us—the

unlikeliest flyers of all? If we work together, and share a common direction and a sense

of purpose, we will all get to where we are going quicker, and easier, because we will

be travelling on the trust, and the thrust, of each other.

One of the wonderful sounds of Springis the inimitable honking of the returning

geese as they travel along together. The geese in the rear are honking encouragement

to those up front, as if to say, “Don’t give up, keep up your speed, our goal is just

around the corner!”

When one of the geese is sick or wounded or simply too tired to fly today, two

other geese will fall out of the flock, and watch over it until it recovers or dies. Then they

will rejoin the original flock, or start one of their own. We, too, must look after others

through the bonds of humanity and common sense. We must help those who are

wounded, which sometimes includes ourselves, and then start again with renewed

purpose.

Being lead bird is a tough job and takes the most amount of energy. When the

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Country Cooking