Helping The World One Turtle At A Time!

  Earlier today, I was working in the garden and Son was remodeling the shed when suddenly his work got really quiet.  Hmm, either he was pondering something difficult or had gotten distracted.  It is not like him to just quit working in the middle of a project.  After a bit, the curiosity got the best of me and I went to check on him.  Yep, he had gotten distracted...by a box turtle.  When I came through the garden gate, he was sitting on the shed deck and the little turtle was on the ground just looking up at him.  "I think she is hungry, Mom." he said.  This translated to , "Go find something for me to feed her."  I did.

  In the kitchen, there just happened to be a couple of apples sitting on the table.  Turtles like apples!  A quick slice and I was back out the door.  Son gently laid the apple within inches of the turtle's nose and she readily tried to eat.  For some reason, that turtle could not get a bite off of the chunk so Son picked up the apple and broke it into tiny pieces.  As soon as he went to place a piece down, the turtle came forward and took it from his fingers.  He snickered a bit and got another piece.  Same thing.  The turtle came forward and gently took the piece.  She tried to eat it all but dropped some.  In the meantime, he had another piece in hand and she left the morsel on the ground for the one in his hand.  Several times, she would patiently wait just looking at him until he broke another piece. Son sat hand-feeding a turtle for ten minutes.  One thing that I noticed about the turtle was that she was very, very careful not to bite Son as she took the morsel.  She cared enough not to harm the very one helping her. 

  While this may not seem like a momentous event to most folks, I found it endearing and appropriate for the day.  It is Earth Day, after all!  Be kind, folks.  It only takes a moment and could make a big difference.  Let's heal our old world.  It sure needs every helping hand it can get.

Stars and Planets

Last month, I found some weird looking things in the hotbed.  These were the empty spore sacs of a fungi called Earth Stars.  Actually, in the scientific world they are known as Gasteromycetes..a large word that not a lot of folks will recognize nor be able to pronounce.  It is far easier to just call them puff balls and be done with it as this is a name with which folks can relate.  What makes the Earth Stars differ from most puff balls is that they can move!  This movement is related to the weather and spore dispersal.  There is an outer shell that splits open to reveal the inner puff ball sac.  Usually this outer shell opens when the weather is damp.  Raindrops pelt the sac and "poof" out the spores so the fungi can reproduce.  During dry weather, the star-shaped shell will fold up around the sac to protect it.

While I know all this happens, I have never seen it in action until this week.  Mark and I were out after a torrential downpour late one afternoon.  It was still drizzling a bit but not enough to keep us from our hike.  Just as we were nearing the board path to the pier, a wee bit of movement caught my eye.  At first, I though some poor critter had nearly been drowned by the hard rainfall.  I stared at the spot hoping to find what of my wild friends needed a helping hand.  I could not see a thing!  Then the wiggle again.  Aha!  An Earth Star was opening!  Excited, I plopped down to my knees to watch regardless of the sogginess of the ground!  Mark thought I was a tad daft and questioned my intentions.  I explained to him just what was happening.  He probably still thought I was a bit crazy but he humored me and feigned interest.   After the rain dispersed the spores, I picked up the empty shell to show him.  He did admit that the thing was pretty interesting and that he had never noticed anything like it before. Which drives home the point!  Most of us go through life without ever noticing the amazing world of unseen miracles.  If a fungi can move to protect its spores, then what else is out there that baffles the mind?  April 22nd is Earth Day.  Why not go outside and explore a little?  See what is in your own backyard..in the park..or simply in a flower pot.  Look deep..explore the little things that usually go unnoticed.  You just might find something very interesting.  Something that might inspire you to go the extra step in helping to protect nature and our planet!