Canada geese seem to have adopted NIH as their natural habitat. They ambulate everywhere on campus these days—singly, in couples, in groups, expecting and receiving right-of-way.  And they have an uncanny way of turning the environment to their own purposes without doing damage—for instance, the day after a downpour a little while ago that left an impressive puddle between Building 1 and Building 2, a goose took up residence in the center of what had clearly been transformed into its own personal lake and lounged there surveying the passersby (and preventing them from stepping into the puddle—a win-win situation).

It was a sight worthy of a camera, but I was in too much of a hurry to retrieve the Catalyst camera from the office, though it was only steps away. So this photo, takn later, will grace this back cover instead. It’s a closer representation of leave-taking, anyway—which is what I’m doing (the other could perhaps have depicted my adapting to the post of Catalyst managing editor nearly 12 years ago).

I’ve enjoyed my strolls around campus.

—Fran Pollner