Between trash and geese, dog walk turns hazardous

My early morning walk with our dog was cut short under Saturday's blue skies to make it on time for the Exchange Club's "One Nation Under God" breakfast at the Holiday Inn Select.

A bunch of us likely misread the invitation because we arrived more than an hour early for the 9 a.m. event.

Don't ask how stupid we felt.

The annual breakfast, sponsored by the club's Americanism Committee, recognized Detective Mike Caruso as its Police Officer of the Year and community volunteer Frank Allston as recipient of the Abraham Lincoln Award.

While I appreciated every moment of the remarkable tribute to first responders, men and women in our armed services and all veterans -- as well as an enlightening presentation about the Nicholas Larson Home for Veterans in Wheaton -- I yearned to be outdoors.

Yet, once back home, I began tinkering with the first draft of this column, focusing on Earth Day events scheduled later this month.

I was thinking green and considering conservation, eco-friendly projects, renewable resources, bio-fuels and the great outdoors while sunshine streamed through the window on the first nice afternoon of spring.

Still missing my morning walk with Karl, our 4-year-old Papillion, I put her on her leash, went outside and headed toward the main post office on Ogden Avenue about eight-tenths of a mile from my house.

Just before Walgreen's at Rickert and Sequoia roads, I pulled Karl into the grass to avoid stepping on the glistening green glass shattered on the sidewalk. Someone had smashed an O'Doul's beer bottle. Now I was seeing red.

As we neared the corner, my bright outlook turned toward the unsightly litter scattered all over the ground.

"Why?" I wondered. "Why the broken bottles and tossed trash? And if the trash were strewn by the wind on garbage collection day last Tuesday, why hasn't anybody picked it up?"

The pocket in my winter jacket has a plastic bag for picking up litter. But I had none in my lightweight jacket.

I began rewriting this column as we walked.

Geese honking

We ventured right along Ogden and past Simply Hair.

When we turned toward the post office at Feldott Lane, a gaggle of geese greeted us near the pond by Grand Reserve Apartment Homes, where the once-migratory waterfowl have found a permanent home.

Next thing I knew, a half dozen geese were hissing and charging at us.

Yikes! They could peck 10-pound Karl to death.

We ran across Feldott and the geese withdrew.

I quickly dropped my letters in the curbside mailbox. But when I looked around, one goose was still in pursuit, within arms length.

I stepped up my gait and raced toward the post office, thinking the goose wouldn't go near the building.

A man parked in a gray truck, ready to pull out, honked his horn several times to frighten the goose off the sidewalk.

"Those geese sure don't like your stuff!" he shouted. "You invaded their nesting area. Be careful! That goose could break your arm!"

He honked again; yet the hissing goose with flapping wings continued to chase us.

With no time to chat, we ran faster. The aggressive goose wouldn't let up.

The man in the truck, now out of his parking space and following us to the exit, came to our rescue again by blasting his horn.

An orange car pulled up to block the path between the angry goose and us.

"That goose sure has an attitude!" joked the second man.

The man in the truck added, "You'll have some tale to tell when you get home."

Little did he know!

By the time we reached the sidewalk along Ogden by Speedway, the goose had retreated, perhaps thinking we were no longer a threat.

Beware of Naperville's overcrowded goose population, especially now during mating season. According to Web sites run by the Audubon Society and others, feeding geese leads to their aggressive behavior.

For details, visit www.epa.state.il.us. Search "Don't feed the geese."