Two ways to describe the habitual, seasonal flight paths of geese: a skein woven into the air like stitches, which in turn form creases in the palm of the world’s hand.

‘From a satellite you could see them, long skeins of the goose bodies, sewn like stitches into the air.  The geese are en route for a few weeks each spring and again each autumn … this is a line creased into the palm of the world’s hand.’

See also the quote rich mosaic review of this magnificent, entrancing book: a love letter to islands and a paean to the sea. 

Source: Adam Nicolson, Sea Room: An Island Life (London: Harper Collins, 2013 (2002)), p. 133

Photo credit: Ethan Weil at unsplash.com