Alarm Systems

One of the things that the girls like about visiting the Island is the freedom. I live in the middle of Burlington. While Burlington, Vermont is far from a large city. It is an urban area, and my section has a lot of traffic and shall we say interesting characters? So my kids are on a very short leash so to speak. They don't go anywhere without an adult to accompany them. On the island, especially in the winter, there are hardly any people around let alone cars. In addition, the kids have been going there since they were infants so the people who are there tend to recognize who they are pretty quickly and know where they belong. I always tell them they can wander around wherever they want, but they need to stay where they can see the house and out of the road. This gives them a pretty wide area as the yard and surrounding fields are quite large.

Even so I was amused to find that there are a few systems in place that I didn't know about should someone decide to ignore my rule. Meet Thelma and Louise.

These are my mother's geese. She got them last winter. The girls love these geese and spend a lot of time picking grasses outside the pen and feeding them. There is also the new thrill of collecting the eggs the geese lay. They are eager to head out with Grammie Eva in the morning to check and see if they have any eggs hidden in their house.

I learned that Thelma and Louise have another role to play as well, one of alarm system. The kids asked if I would take them exploring down through the woods behind Grammie's house. An area off limits unless accompanied by an adult. As we walked past the goose pen the geese watched us. When we got to the edge of the woods the sight of the kids wandering into the woods sent the geese into a mass hysteria of quacking. It was crazy how noisy it was. They were so upset to see the kids heading that far from the house. I was very reassured to know that their movements were being monitored so closely.

I got an additional layer of protection after we headed back to the house for a snack. Our explorations had led us through the woods and out to the beach. We got hungry, so we decided to head back for lunch and go back to the beach after. While we were inside eating, my mom took her dogs out for a run. Upon their return to the house Max...

picked up the kids scent heading in to the woods and tracked them all the way down to the beach (shown here leashed after I found the little bugger). We found him waiting for us there when we headed back out after lunch. So see if you get past the geese alarm the rescue dog will track you through the woods and down to the beach.