A visitor from the pond
Posted: June 2, 2010 Filed under: Adventures in Life, Earth, home, nature, Photography, pond, Spirit, Spring, Walking, water | Tags: Mother Earth, quotes, Ted Andrews, turtles 15 CommentsWhile M and I were enjoying our lunch today, a turtle came wandering up from the pond. Sense of scale is hard to convey when you don’t want to get too close, but this was a grandmother or grandfather turtle, well sized with what looks like a lot of life behind her/him.
The turtles in this area are migrating now. Unfortunately, some don’t make it across the roadways. This snapper had made her way up the hill from the pond. For a few minutes we worried that she was headed for the trench. Since we poured the concrete on Sunday, we’ve had some rainwater settle in the trench along with mud. M — while bailing out the water — found four frogs trying to take up residence in there. Removing the frogs from the trench was no big deal. Removing this giant of a snapper would not have been so easy.
In his book Animal Speak, Ted Andrews writes this about turtles:
Turtles remind us that the way to heaven is through the earth. In Mother Earth is all that we need. She will care for us, protect us, and nurture us, as long as we do the same for her. For that to happen, we must slow down and heighten our sensibilities. We must see the connection to all things. Just as the turtle cannot separate itself from its shell, neither can we separate ourselves from what we do to the Earth.
A couple of weeks ago I read this blog post at Grace-full Thoughts which made me ponder my own role in the BP oil spill in terms of how I use petroleum and petroleum products.
M and I both try to conserve energy, live in a “green” way, and reduce any negative impact we may have on the earth. Among other things, we compost, plant trees, recycle and/or reuse, consolidate errands when we have to drive to the store, and have begun to take more and more trips that don’t involve a car to get around. Still, I think we could do better. Having the turtle join us for lunch this afternoon reminded me of that.
I hope it made it safely to wherever it was headed. It came close to the trench but then veered off to the right and continued uphill, disappearing into the grass. There are quite a few ponds in this area where it can make a new home. I’d like to think the old Grandmother Turtle is settling in now, enjoying the change of scenery and looking for the best feeding spots.
(Weekend sunset.)
Love this posts. All of it. The quotes, the thoughts, the pictures. . .
Thank you, Anhinga. 🙂
What a wonderful quote and sunset.
Thank you, UHDD. 🙂
what a nice guest to have for lunch!
A lovely guest, Chris. It’s a good thing I don’t like snapper soup, though. 😉
lovely and lush! c”,)
Thanks, Jen. I’m beginning to feel like we live in a rain forest during monsoon season. Everything is so green this year because of all the rain we’ve had.
Snappers are amazing, aren’t they? Love all your thoughts – especially good reminder of what we can do to help take care of our world. Even the little things add up to be big things. Thanks!
I have to admit to being a little wary of the snapper, Bo. I’ve heard they don’t let go easily once they’ve grabbed on to something.
what a cutie!!
I love turtles, but I have to admit that they look kind of crazy. In a cute way, but definitely something out of the ordinary. I hope it got where it was going too!
I think the snapper looks almost prehistoric, Meredith, but I agree with you that they’re crazy looking in a cute way.
How wonderful you have a community of wildlife at your pond. I love snapping turtles and have since a child. I used to pick them up! LOL One time when my uncle saw me holding a snapping turtle, he said, “If it bites you, it won’t let go until lightening strikes.” 🙂 These are great shots. I love Ted Andrews. Beautiful sunset on the pond.
Thanks, Anna. 🙂
We have a big community of wildlife, Anna. It’s pretty amazing. A couple of varieties of frogs, fish, snakes, turtles, deer, foxes, and more.