Tranquility

What a perfect Saturday.
Having been up for two days straight, I collapsed last night after watching the last half of "A Tale of Two Cities" and woke up at 11am.  I was only somewhat disappointed that, yet again, I had missed my 9 am appointment with Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio. I flitted around in that way one does when beginning one chore and, seeing another duty, proceeds to begin on that, then traipses into some other activity and before long, realizes that nothing is getting the best of attention.  So, I opted for a breath or two of fresh air and drove down to nearby Belle Isle Park.   (picture not in park, but representative - didn't have my camera with me!)

I spent the better part of the next hour wandering trails near and behind the golf course and past some camp hook-up sites (who knew?).  I was delighted to spot a turtle/tortoise? as I rounded a bend and came to an abrupt halt so as to avoid stepping on it.  If I had laid my laptop on its shell that would have been about its width.  I wondered how old it was. I touched the shell and gently stroked its tail - because I'd never done that before - and spoke softly to it, then left it to its slow mission to cross the path to the marshy landscape by the lake. On my return by a side road, I glanced over to spot a boy who had dismounted from his bicycle and was poking at it with a stick.  I had to hope he wasn't taunting it, but at the same time snapped a mental picture of the timelessness of the actions of boys and sticks, and smiled to myself for quite a few paces onwards.