Modern Transcendentalists

"All knowledge transcendental, which is concerned not with objects but with our mode of knowing objects."  
 --Emmanuel Kant, Philosopher


"The materialist, secure in the certainty of sensation, mocks at fine-spun theories, at star-gazers and dreamers, and believes that his life is solid, that he at least takes nothing for granted, but knows where he stands, and what he does. 
Yet how easy it is to show him, that he also is a phantom walking and working amid phantoms, and that he need only ask a question or two beyond his daily questions, to find his solid universe growing dim and impalpable before his sense.
The sturdy capitalist, no matter how deep and square on blocks of Quincy granite he lays the foundations of his banking-house or Exchange, must set it, at last, not on a cube corresponding to the angles of his structure, but on a mass of unknown materials and solidity, red-hot or white-hot, perhaps at the core, which rounds off to an almost perfect sphericity, and lies floating in soft air, and goes spinning away, dragging bank and banker with it at a rate of thousands of miles the hour, he knows not whither, — a bit of bullet, now glimmering, now darkling through a small cubic space on the edge of an unimaginable pit of emptiness. 

And this wild balloon, in which his whole venture is embarked, is a just symbol of his whole state and faculty. One thing, at least, he says is certain, and does not give me the headache, that figures do not lie; the multiplication table has been hitherto found unimpeachable truth; and, moreover, if I put a gold eagle in my safe, I find it again to-morrow — but for these thoughts, I know not whence they are. 
They change and pass away. But ask him why he believes that an uniform experience will continue uniform, or on what grounds he founds his faith in his figures, and he will perceive that his mental fabric is built up on just as strange and quaking foundations as his proud edifice of stone."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, Lectures, January 1842

"It is well known to most of my audience, that the Idealism of the present day acquires the name of Transcendentalism." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Whatever is unintelligible would certainly be transcendental." --Edgar Allen Poe

All true, still true today, the Modern Transcendentalist.

Caring for Domestic Geese

For many the domestic goose is a creature they wish to avoid. Geese are noisy, they chase and bite! Well, true, some do. However with a small introduction to the Anser species, one can find geese fit right into the small farm or even the backyard farm along with ducks but without the disease problems of turkeys.

Before you can decide to add any waterfowl, like geese or ducks to your farmstead, here's a few things about them:

1. Geese (and Ducks) are not chickens! Well, duh everyone knows that. Do they? When it comes to caring for these different species, a surprising number of people will care for them as if they were chickens by providing the same housing and feed, for starters.

2. Geese need a pond to swim in. Well, yes-- sort of.

3. They migrate in the fall. Maybe, but domestic geese at our place haven't yet, and for good reason!

Taking the first point: often due to lack of factual resources, and they are hard to come by, many have fallen into the "feed trap" by supposing chicken feed is good because it says so on the feed bag. Big difference here between chickens, who are land animals (they hate getting wet!) and water fowl: chickens are omnivores, meaning they eat everything from fruits, grains, vegetables to meat, and then look for more.

 Geese on the other hand are vegetarians. Their best diet is composed of quality pasture in fair weather and, quality grass hay in cold weather when fresh pasture is not available. In late fall, the addition of a small amount of grain such as oats, barley, millet or corn given daily in a quantity of 4-6 ounces per bird with all the grass/grass hay they care to eat, and unlimited drinking water is the best thing to feed your geese. They also require grit to digest their food. Provide clean sand such as 'play' sand for them to eat free choice. Geese, you see are 'grazing animals', much like sheep, cows, horses or others. They benefit from clean, well managed pasture and may happily graze along side of other, larger stock animals.

Chickens need greater quantities of protein for laying fresh eggs daily so a 16-18 per cent protein feed is appropriate. The goose requires less, about 12 per cent is good but not less than 10 per cent, much of which is supplied by their grazing and a small amount of grain fed in fall prior to their egg laying season, about February to May of each year.

Feather care is important to all fowl and they will spend a significant time daily preening and cleaning themselves.  Geese will spend even more. They care for their flight feathers, their pin feathers and carefully oil each one to ensure buoyancy when in water. Help your geese keep clean by providing them free range grass in your open yard or pasture, with solid fencing such as horse wire fence or chain link to protect them from predators and domestic dogs. Also provide a secure night time coop, allowing aprox. 2-4 square feet per bird to protect them in absence of a pond which they might otherwise flee to when threatened. Use 6-8 inches of straw bedding in the coop, as it is their preferred bedding.

Second: While a pond is nice, geese do not require one. Ponds in fact are a major source of parasitic infestations. It's better to purchase a soft plastic kiddie wading pool or a low sided stock tank so they can easily climb in and out. Dump the water regularly for their good health. Geese do require shade in hot months. Provide either trees, bushes or a tarp for shade purposes. Consider shading the drinking water also.

And thirdly, geese who are happy and well fed (remember to start the grain feeding in late fall) don't have the urge to migrate. In addition like most birds, geese are territorial. They like their place and tend to stay put. Some may fly around the farmstead upon occasion but they won't leave home-- or their flock for any extended time. Best of all handle your chicks, goslings as baby geese are called, daily. Feed them, pick them up, talk to them.
Recognizing you and your voice is critical to happy future interaction with your birds. This will tame them and they will recognize you uniquely as part of the flock, so they'll not charge or bite you when mature. Your goose can be expected to live about 18-20 years on average and will be able to raise goslings the majority of their long lives. In contrast chickens live about 10 to 12 years, on average.


Try them if you have the right environment, housing and access to feed. They are smart; you can train them with patience and persistence. And they are quite friendly when handled from their earliest days.

Exceeding the Usual Limits

Song of Myself
Verse 14

                                     ...The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,

Ya-honk he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation,
The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listening close,
Find its purpose and place up there toward the wintry sky.

The sharp hoofed moose of the north, the cat on the house sill,
the chickadee, the prairie-dog,
The litter of the grunting sow as they tug at her teats,
The brood of the turkey-hen and 

she with her half-spread wings,
 

I see in them and myself the same old law.
The press of my foot to the earth springs a hundred
affections, they scorn the best I can do to relate them.

I am enamor'd of growing out-doors,
Of men that live among cattle or taste of the ocean or woods,
Of the builders and steer'rs of ships and the wielders of axes
and mauls, and the drivers of horses,
I can eat and sleep with them week in and week out.

What is commonest, cheapest, nearest, easiest, is Me,
Me going in for my chances, spending for vast returns,
Adorning myself to bestow myself on the
first that will take me,
Not asking the sky to come down to my good will,
Scattering it freely forever... 

~By Walt Whitman~

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

Burn high your fires, foundry chimneys! cast black shadows at

nightfall! cast red and yellow light over the tops of the houses!

Appearances, now or henceforth, indicate what you are,

You necessary film, continue to envelop the soul,

About my body for me, and your body for you, be hung our divinest aromas,

Thrive, cities—bring your freight, bring your shows, 

ample and sufficient rivers,

Expand, being than which none else is perhaps more spiritual,

Keep your places, objects than which none else is more lasting.

You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beautiful ministers,

We receive you with free sense at last, and are insatiate henceforward,

Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or withhold yourselves from us,

We use you, and do not cast you aside—we plant you permanently within us,

We fathom you not—we love you—there is perfection in you also,

You furnish your parts toward eternity,

Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul.

~~Crossing Brooklyn Ferry~~

by Walt Whitman 1856

Welcome to On Collins Pond.

Collins Pond is a little bit of peace and tranquility around here. Some like to enjoy the sunshine; others like the nature or a chance to fish. There is a whole world waiting On Collins Pond.

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