Turtles Everywhere

On  Wednesday, I ran errands, as it was my day off. Very close to the same place I had met the Eastern Box Turtle about a week earlier, another, less exotic turtle was stranded in the middle of the road. I don't know how they get into these situations, except that they must set out confidently to cross the road, and then a car comes by, and they get scared, and go back into their shell, and then they have no idea when to try again.

I saw the turtle as I was passing by the local school, but I could not stop the car there, so I waited till I got to the next parking lot, which belonged to a church. Then I backtracked on foot quite a distance to where the turtle was still waiting.

I picked it up from behind and brought it over to the side of the street it had been facing.

The sun was very bright and high in the sky and cast gigantic shadows.

Once it was safely on the other side, I stopped to snap a picture, and then I walked back to my car. The turtle did not open up while I was there.

Then that evening I saw a turtle out on the lawn on my own property.

It seemed very familiar. I was sure I had seen it before.

There were markings on the shell that were unmistakable.

At first it would not open up, but after I gave it some distance, it proceeded along its chosen trajectory.

I snapped a few more pictures, then watched it disappear into the pasture.

All of the nature photos I have been taking really came in handy yesterday, for the music video of "I Love Everyone" from The Debt Collector, a musical that composer Daniel Carter and I collaborated on about five years ago. The singer is Erin Royall Carlson.

This song does not represent my philosophy, by the way. It is the world view of Siren the Social Worker, a statist and a fuzzy thinker who believes that everything in nature revolves around her and that she can solve everybody's problems. This is from early on in the musical, and it is Siren's introductory song.  I do not believe we can love everyone equally, nor does it make sense to try. But the nature photos do seem to go well with the song.

Erin Royall Carlson also did a great job on "Steak on a Plate", a campy, sexy song from the third act. When Bow heard her singing, he asked to see the singer, but he was disappointed when there were no images of Erin Royall Carlson belting out the song.

I saw a meme today that represents everything that is wrong with the way people look at love, welfare and helping others. It was a dog with his dish held in his mouth, looking mournfully into the camera. "Would you give up your meal so that your dog can eat?" was the caption.

No. Dogs were not meant to eat a special diet that costs their owners money. Man and dog have always shared their meals -- neither had to give up a meal for the other. Dogs are supposed to eat our leftovers. That's how this symbiotic relationship between Man and Wolf began. It requires no self sacrifice and is beneficial to both.

You might as well ask: Would you give up a meal so that the beneficial bacteria in your gut can have something to eat? No, the bacteria share our food naturally. Society is so confused right now that people have no idea how to coexist peacefully with others in a natural way that benefits all. You're not even allowed to give your leftovers to the poor, because it's not "sanitary"!