2018 Life Logs, Day 110—Turtles, Little Boys, and Birds
Date: Friday, April 20, 2018
Weather: Sunny and Cool; High Temp 52, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
What do turtles, little boys, and birds have in common? The answer is . . . me. I had wonderful experiences with all three today. I met Sam, Jonah, and Ollie in Woods Hole this morning to watch the documentary film called “Saving Sea Turtles: Preventing Extinction.” Much of this film was shot here on Cape Cod because late each fall many endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtles that are cold-stunned wash up on the Cape Cod Bay side of the Cape. These turtles belong in the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico but get caught in currents that bring them north. When the northern summer ends and the water starts to get a bit chilly, they try to make their way back south. But because of the Cape Cod hook that forms the Cape Cod Bay, they swim in and can’t find their way. When it gets really chilly, they suffer hypothermia and get washed ashore. Over the years, a group of volunteers have been trained in how to pick them up off the beaches and get them to the Wellfleet Audubon, who in turns transports them to a facility run by the New England Aquarium. There the turtles are nursed back to health and then released back into the wild when the waters warm a bit in the spring. But in the fall of 2014, an unprecedented number of turtles were recovered and needed help. Facilities up and down the East Coast had to work together to save as many of the recovered 1,242 endangered turtles as possible. That story was the basis of the film. The boys have met the man that heads up the Wellfleet Audubon who was in the film. And last August, we participated in the release of eight Kemp’s Ridley turtles that were rehabilitated and released by the National Marine Life Center. Ollie and I have even had a tour of the Marine Life Center’s hospital for seals and turtles. These personal experiences enriched the content of the film for the boy. So, that was the turtle part of my day. I then spent the afternoon messing about with the Goldpebbles—climbing their favorite tree in Woods Hole, playing soccer at the park in Woods Hole, having lunch at Oma’s, and then going to the public library to participate in a scavenger hunt. Actually, just Ollie, with some help from Jonah, did the scavenger hunt, while Sam and Jonah curled up on a sofa and read. Ollie made some puppets of characters from the books associated with the scavenger hunt. It was just a lovely, peaceful hour in the library. So, that was the ‘little boys’ part of my day. Now we get to the birds. I took the boys home and then headed to the cottage to do some cleaning. It was late afternoon, the sun was shining, and the sound of birds was overwhelming as I got out of the car and went into the cottage. Before starting to work, I grabbed a sparkling water out of the refrigerator and headed down to a concrete patio on the adjacent property where I have located one of my little glass deck tables with chairs. It is a perfect viewing area and I just sat there and enjoyed. An egret was mucking about in the marsh, geese and ducks were swimming in the river, tiny birds of some sort were in the brush in front of me and were very brazen. They would look right at me and hop towards me before flying away. What a peaceful place. Unfortunately, I needed to get to work, but the nature break with the birds was very special. So, that was the bird part of my day. A good day. Tomorrow is all about cleaning the cottage, but maybe I’ll take a couple of bird watching nature breaks along the way.
