Small Miracles

Earlier this week I had to finally do something about the front lawn. With all the heat and rain and sunshine the grass is growing pretty quickly. I'm grateful to have a large shade tree in the front and one day this past week, I think it was Monday the humidity dropped just a tad and the breeze was blowing and it was cooler to be outside then inside. I didnt have the energy to mow with the mower so I ended up weed eating the whole front yard. Haha.. And I am so glad that I did. When I first got started I was going along and at some point had to stop and when I looked down to where I had just cut the grass I have to laugh but I thought it was .. uhhh .. well dog waste is a nice way to put it. haha  I was in the area that they generally go when I haven't taken them on a walk. I looked again and thought maybe it was a stone but then I recognized those three little protrusions on it's back.. yep it was a baby box turtle. And I am so amazed yet again that I have a turtle come to me .. why? I find that I must discover this answer.. but in the mean time .. I quickly go to get my blue gloves and pick up the turtle and make sure all is ok ..

Here he is .. about the size of a silver dollar. I put my hand in the photo to show it's size. I was so delighted to see that the turtles are apparently flourishing in my neck of the woods.!! Isn't he just the cutest thing? So tiny. So alive .. thankfully unharmed!! I'm so grateful! And I have gone back now and reread a passage on Turtle Medicine from a book that a friend has shared with me. One thing that really popped out is this; " If you have chosen the Turtle symbol you are being asked the honor the creative source within you, to be grounded to the Earth, and to observe your situation with motherly compassion. Use the water and earth energies, which represent Turtle's two homes, to flow harmoniously with your situation and to place your feet firmly on the ground in a power stance. Turtle is a fine teacher of the art of grounding." and futher on it states, " The corn that is harvested before its time is not yet full. However if it is given the chance to develop at it's own rate, in its own season, its sweetness will be shared by all." There is so much more .. perhaps I will spend more of today rereading this and thinking about it. Either way I am honored to have these little beings showing up a lot in my day.

 His underbelly seems to have this semi peace symbol on it .. I'ts so small that the connections of the spaces are so big and as they grow those spaces which look to me like a road map, get smaller and smaller. I love this little guy. I took him to my back yard where I never use the weed eater or mower. I put him into the tall grass where he'd be sort of hidden. I hope he finds a safe place to be .. where he will thrive and live a long life. It will be interesting to see if I run into it later if I will be able to tell by the design on its belly. Might be kind of interesting. and it would mean i would have to be here a lot longer.

Now there is one more creature that showed up and one that I have also posted about before. I guess I have to say I never expected this to happen. But it was definitely a delight to experience!! I have photographed and even posted about life at a snails pace and oddly enough both the turtle and the snail move through the world slowly, plodding along and both have shells for protections. This one was inside of a coffee cup that I'd left outside and was taking in. I thought it was a grain of sand or a rock and thankfully I am learning to look closer and to actually see .. even the small things. As I looked I saw that it was a teeny tiny snail. So small probably less then 1/4 inch. more like 3/16ths haha. it was bigger than a 1/8th. Anyway .. I decided to take some photos while I had it sitting in my hand because I had the camera in my pocket. While I was photographing the tiny shell the little guy inside decided to come out and then .. i was ultra fascinated!!! so tiny and yet so perfect in every way .. you can even see the hairs and the texture of my skin that it crawled over .. so amazing!!! I also realize that there are alot of photos here but I just had to share all of them because they are so amazing to me. I know that somehow their influence will show up in the stitching. They already have. And it serves as a serious reminder that plodding along .. going slow .. is a very very good thing! You can click on the photos to see them larger. I realize that I had to share them because I simply love the beauty of its tiny delicate body and the way that the light glistens on it's body. It truely seems like a soulful creature to me. Thanks for stopping over!!