I’ve been noticing the scarcity of box turtles on my walks lately, even beginning to wonder if the population is declining for some reason. Last night I went to bed with turtles on my mind—and this morning, as if I had conjured them, scads of turtles, thanks to the heavy rain that set in a round 4 AM. Turtles love the rain, especially in the spring. For some reason they like to mate during wet weather. (Sound familiar? I posted about this last year.)
I was delighted with the turtles, and with the soggy walk. I love hiking in the rain. There’s always an initial resistance to getting wet, but once I surrender to the experience I realize that I like that sensation of the water slowly soaking through my shoes, droplets running down my arms. There’s a wonderful loss of boundaries when you’re out in the rain. It doesn’t respect your personal space.
Unfortunately, the morning showers have turned into a daylong deluge with tornadoes and heavy storms south of here, and flooding everywhere. It looks to continue all day tomorrow. Too much of a good thing. I take no responsibility. I only wished for turtles.
Charmeur de tortues, L. Crépon, 1869
3 comments:
I love this. I too like a walk in the rain, for all the same reasons. Long ago I drove a girlfriend crazy, she told me later, by often saying, "Hey, it's raining. Let's go for a walk. Very nice post. Feels as if we were walking along with you.
Damn, I didn't close my quotation.
"
Maria, it's gator, lizard and generally reptilian mating season here in Miami. The sights! The sounds! ;-)
About the loss of boundaries getting wet while outside: happens just about every time I garden, as I have an uncanny ability to get the hose flailing around, or I drop it, and the handle hits the ground and the nozzle gets me good, but mostly - just being outside in the humidity here means the moisture collects on your skin, the moisture in the air blends with it, and there you are, reliving a bit of an amphibian engramme. Well, at least I do.
Post a Comment