Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Hiding in Plain Sight

The cardinal hides her nest in a small shrubby tree....

The kildeer, on the other hand, lays her eggs on the open ground, in plain view of everyone. The arrow marks the spot of the nest so the people who mow the lawn won't crush the eggs.



If you approach too closely, she darts away and pretends to be injured, feigning a broken wing, to attract your attention away from the eggs.


About 30 feet away from the kildeer, is this bare patch of ground. The only reason why we know this is a turtle's nest is that Richard spotted her making it as he walked to church.

I don’t know what this turtle was up too. It seemed very interested in our garage, for some reason.







Even though we don’t lay eggs in nests and sit on them, or dig holes in the ground and then cover them up, I think our homes, the physical structures that we inhabit and rearrange in ways to give us pleasure, serve a very similar function. I am too tired and too pressed for time to write elegantly about this now. The author of a book of meditations on the topic Simple Abundance, which I try to read every day, but often sometimes don’t manage, suggested at the beginning of the month that we need to look at one of the goddesses from the Greek pantheon -- Hestia -- as our inspiration for nurturing the interior spaces we occupy so that our own inner space is nurtured as well.

It was to Hestia that women turned for protection and inspiration so that they might, as an act of worship, transform their dwelling places into homes of beauty and comfort...

I guess Hestia isn’t such a bad sort, but I think I would prefer to do things “as unto the Lord” rather than being motivated by an ancient goddess.

The author got on my last nerve. Her advice came on the heels of Dance of the Dissident Daughter, in which that author goes plowing back through ancient history to find her spiritual feminine self by making pilgrimages to shrines set up to worship a variety of ancient goddesses and engaging in certain rituals -- some of which involve turtles, now that I think about. I think if I read one more piece of similar advice I will be tempted to hurl the book against the wall.

3 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lee Lee - how I wish we had turtles here. we do have birds who lay eggs on the ground and feign injury to guide you away from the nest though. I saw a cardinal when I was in US earlier this year - beautiful bird - lovely to see its nest.
I often feel like hurling books across the room if what I read is rubbish -

Far Side of Fifty said...

Hey, I am not a plant expert by any means.. It is difficult to tell what the flower is.. I would guess some kind of Beardstongue or Penstemon right of the top of my old head. It has an irregular flower, and we know the color. When does it bloom? And where? Is it a wildflower versus some plant from a greenhouse?
Some clues that would help..what does the foliage look like? Are the leaves just at the base of the plant? Or do they go up the stem? Are the leaves on the stem..alternate, opposite or whorled? Are the leaves entire, lobed, toothed or divided? All those answers will give you some clues. A good wildflower guide will take you through all this ..and ID becomes easier. :)

Lil Sis said...

love the turtle. Now THATs something I don't see roaming the streets of Lakewood. I don't think I told you that some coyotes were spotted on our street, a couple of weeks back. Yikes.