Snowy Speculations

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If I could paint, I would have tried to replicate the landscape very early this morning. Illuminated by the faintest hints of light and hours before sunrise, the cold, stark landscape lay completely still in its snowy blanket. Naked trees stood proudly and quietly against this backdrop, this palate of pure white an unforgiving place for any creature, big or small, to attempt to cross without drawing attention to its existence at this time. Even our ancient tire swing looked sleepy and droopy, suspended precariously close to the ground, as if the effort of hanging from a tree limb was too much for it. To the east, the only rays of light visible were the ones coming from the across the river, and even those seem hushed and muffled, like a child tired and murmuring not to wake them up just yet.  The young families down the road have gone all out with Christmas lights this year. Bright colours adorn the night skies and my neighbours even have a Christmas Cat and a Christmas Dinosaur that i
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Snapping Turtle Standing Guard!

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Snapping Turtle Standing Guard!

One of the minor downfalls of rural living is that the roads are well traveled with high speed drivers. It is not always conducive to go walking without having to head onto the shoulder every few minutes when a car passes by. As an avid walker, I decided I would use the outline of our property as my  personal walking path.

We have an ancient curly willow tree located right in the middle of our property and on one of my daily walkabouts, I noticed a large snapping turtle parked right the under said tree watching me intently. At first I was a little spooked. Rightly so since I noticed that even though I was generally 100-200  feet away from him at most times, he turned his craggy head ever so slowly and with beady eyes, watched my every step around the yard. True, my pace was a little quicker whenever I walked by the tree, having to pass by him fairly closely. In my mind, I was waiting for this ancient reptile to come charging behind me, snapping his angry jaws! I shuddered slightly every time and kept right on walking. Wasn't there a famous race between a tortoise and a hare in which the tortoise won the race after all? Anything was possible!

After my thirty minute walk was completed, I went inside and went through the usual nightly rituals supervising the kids as they got ready for bed and preparing for the next day. The snapping turtle, aka S.T., was soon forgotten in the hustle and bustle of family life.

The next day, I noticed that S.T. was not in the spot I had last seen him the evening before.  Slightly alarmed, my eyes panned the yard to see if I could spot him anywhere. Sure enough, there he was, slowly and painfully making his way across the yard, heading in the direction of the ditch. I watched him sluggishly lift one gnarled limb after the other making his tedious journey across the grass.

I have no idea how long it actually took him to get to the other side of the yard and reach the security of the damp ditch. Because of his sheer size, he knew that no predators were going to be an issue as he made his way across the lawn. Did I sense a sort of cockiness in his geriatric walk? Did he know that he was untouchable by me or anyone else? Silently I applauded the old fellow!

S.T. was never seen on our property again. But every once in a while, when I'm walking around the circumference of our yard, my eyes still search for his darkened shape under the tree, turning his head ever so slightly, watching me as if to say,"Hey! S.T. could stand for Speedy Turtle! Wanna race?"


Lolita Hale

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 20, 2020 at 6:53 AM

    Beautiful story,I must say you do have a good imagination. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lolita HaleMay 20, 2020 at 7:38 AM

      Thank you! This is a new endeavor for me and I am having a lot of fun!

      Delete

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