On Monday, I made a quick trip to my local garden center to buy supplies so I could bury myself in garden-related activities all day on Tuesday, Election Day in the US. I voted weeks ago by mail (and tracked my ballot to ensure delivery to the County Registrar of Voters) and, knowing that the process of counting ballots across the country will be a protracted process this year, I expected it would be essential to my sanity to stay away from the moment-to-moment updates that are likely to plague our news feed for days. While at the garden center, an employee pointed out two new residents in the on-site pond.
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| I took this photo with my cell phone so it's not as clear as I'd like but doesn't the little fellow on top look content with his back legs stretched up in the air? |
At times like this I wish I had a shell I could pull myself into and hide if needed. A safe place to rest with a trusted companion doesn't hurt either.
For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Hoping you can come out and play again soon, Kris! This has been a long difficult day.
ReplyDeleteI spent the day mostly avoiding the news, Susie, just catching the odd update here and there as flashes on my cell phone. I talked to a couple of friends (only a little about the political situation by mutual agreement) and took care of some grunt work in the garden so at least I've some sense of accomplishment.
DeleteI'm a wreck. Most of us seem to be right now.
ReplyDeleteI think we were naive to hope for a blue tsunami, HB. I'm still hoping the final results will have some high notes.
DeleteOh gosh, I love the turtle picture! Feeling better than I did this morning but oh I wish it was over with the outcome I am praying for happening. Thanks for the turtles!!!
ReplyDeleteThe turtles offered a little happiness boost to me on pre-election Day Monday and I'm glad I could share that.
DeleteStaying busy is the name of the game, for sure. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteYou too, Eliza!
DeleteVery cute. Gotta love turtles. Glad it made you smile.
ReplyDeleteWe need whatever we can find - anything! - to help there at the moment, Elaine.
DeleteThe turtles stacked like that remind me of Dr Seuss' Yertle the Turtle. He was kind of tRumpian, come to think of it, old Yertle... Distractions were good to have today, but I feel much better now than I did this morning. Not to jinx anything, but it seems to develop in a way I can get behind. Here is to HOPE!
ReplyDeleteHa! I didn't remember Yertle the Turtle but I found a recitation on YouTube and played it. It's perfect, Anna. Yertle came crashing down when the turtles in the stack, starting with Mack, threw him off with a burp. He ended up as King of the Mud. Let's hope the party who inspired your recollection falls from his self-serving heights as well!
DeleteThese turtles took me back to my childhood for a few moments. When I didn't worry about how the country is run or by whom. Red-eared turtles are in about every pond around here or at least they were when I was a child. I still see them where we go birding. Amazing creatures, surviving our winters. I always think of them as one of the harbingers of spring as they climb onto logs on some of the coolest days of late winter/early spring to soak up that sunshine.
ReplyDeleteTurtles aren't something we usually see here and they draw attention whenever and wherever they appear. At our local botanic garden, both kids and adults flock to the bridge in the children's garden to see if the turtle is in residence.
DeleteIf not a shell, at least there's the garden.
ReplyDeleteYes, after about ten minutes of TV news coverage this morning, I found myself puttering in the garden for a couple of hours. I'll be back out there again soon.
DeleteOnce, when I was a kid, my dad surprised my sister and I with 4 baby turtles. He marked each with a different color dot on the shell so we can tell them apart. I've been loving turtles ever since.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet gift from your dad! A wayward tortoise showed up in our garden for a time when I was a kid but he disappeared as mysteriously as he arrived. In retrospect, I'd guess that he belonged to a neighbor and came up in the wrong yard following an episode of hibernation.
DeleteThank you for sharing and providing your glimpse of escape. I will look for them on my next trip there! I also enjoyed visiting the red-eared slider at SCBG. Arriving early to volunteer before the garden would open, I would routinely go to the bridge and tap my foot and the red-eared slider that i called Buddy, would oftentimes show up. I am happy to say that there are at least 3 of them to visit in the Tropical Conservatory at Sherman Library & Gardens.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful to escape the bombardment of election news!
I always make a point of visiting the turtles when I'm at Sherman, Kay. I've noticed that they often share a rock while bathing in the warmth of the sun but I've never seen them do a double-decker routine ;)
DeleteIt must be a nail biting wait for you Kris ((())) I think that with a second national lockdown starting here today for at least a month I could happily be a tortoise or a hedgehog and hibernate until spring.
ReplyDeleteI think we're in for a nasty winter due to COVID here too, Anna, whether or not the people in charge call for another lockdown. We've plenty of people who believe it's their constitutional right to infect other people in exercising their liberty to ignore public safety protocols. I guess I should be grateful most don't run red lights and stop signs too.
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