Another kind of spring planting

     With the arrival of May in our area of Florida, people by the beach are required to limit their outside light bulbs to red ones, and volunteers hit the sand at dawn. The turtles are coming.

          In May the sea turtles arrive to begin laying their eggs. The red light bulbs are necessary because they have a different wave length than ordinary bright white ones, which can distract the moms-to-be and later disorient their babies who should be working their way back to the ocean, not surging toward someone’s car port or swimming pool.

          The “egg volunteers” hit the beaches early in the morning, before the sun worshippers can unknowingly slam their beach chair

on top of a nest created the night before. Volunteers walk a mile-long section, often in pairs, scouting for new nests. Once they find one, they stake yellow tape around the area, and in some cases even place screens or cages over it to protect the eggs from armadillos, raccoons, or coyotes.

          We may now be back in Massachusetts, but yesterday as My Guy and I were hanging curtains, I wasn’t so sure of that. 

         

 Outside the window, I saw an unfamiliar object in our back yard.

          A friend said she’d had turtles come and lay eggs in the mulch next to her house, and after they hatched had gone outside with a bucket, to gather up the hatched babies in a bucket in order to transport them to a nearby swamp.

          Maybe I’d better check the garage for a bucket of my own. 

Call of the Road

And we're leaving why. . . . ?!

      

    The dog’s looking nervous, our meals are becoming stranger and stranger, and our clothing’s not much better.

Art and More Art

With only one week left here, we’ve begun sort of a last-ditch campaign to snatch up as much Florida as we can before we go.

Fence Sitting

When my kids were young I worked the 3-11 shift two evenings a week as a unit secretary in the pediatrics ward of the local hospital. It was interesting work -  answering phones, scheduling tests, transcribing orders, and a hundred other tasks. I really enjoyed it, probably because it was part-time.

Edges of Paradise

After dinner yesterday the dog looked a bit bored, so I said the magic word “car!” and off we girls went to return library books.

Quirks

As the years stack up, I should be getting used to these moments but they still surprise me.

God the Snowbird

     

     Back home, right after Thanksgiving, a crèche shows on the patch of privately owned land abutting the park in the center of my small town.

Off Hiatus

Yes, I’ve been away.