all the things

this morning:

four snapping turtles

one walking, two laying eggs, and one road killed

two whitetail yearling does

one kingfisher

one mourning dove

two crows

on the way to my house from Home.

at my house i have a big trip to get ready for:

Victoria, British Columbia: Seattle and Tacoma Washington.

books to sew

paper and supplies to wrap.

organization to attempt.

here's one of a pair of osprey we spotted on vacation

sublime pie in machias

and terrific haddock and clams

 a road killed subject for the sketchbook

 at pbi i met so many remarkable people.

 two young book artists 

had work that moved me deeply

michelle moode and woody leslie

 this is michelle's book 
PARTICULAR

she made the paper and printed it letterpress

it starts quietly and builds

 and builds

 the index

and woody's book 

Words and Vegetables

 this one tickles me

type plays with story and with space

 and this book

parsley

 more typographic play with story integral to that play.

 and I have been reading 

 this book is a long essay about aboriginal ways of living 

how different their relationship to land is compared to the conquerors

a story familiar, like the one here.

only that land is so much more fragile than north america. 

Nourishing Terrains and Braiding Sweetgrass are rich resources 
for my pondering.

 and here is, again, a turtle,

from nourishing terrains in australia

but seen, 
this time of year
 hereabouts on sandy roadsides, 
diligently laying eggs.

mid june reporting

 there are two doors now

 and this is the mudroom/entryway

 a large garden shed

built with trusses salvaged

from the house re-build

and roofing from his old milk house

 we've found turtle alley

a place where the road

skirts a large marsh

and turtles use this spot

 to lay eggs

all patterning thanks to turtles 

 some of these turtles are quite large

and there is some record of agitation

 and annihilation

i saw one huge raccoon

happily feeding at the end of the strip.

not too bothered by me, but it did

eventually

slip off. 

 the juneberry is shedding 

a few leaves

and is producing the first bird food 

at the new place;

also strawberries, 

the amish have them coming on.

out the window by the beaver dam

a whitetail nibbles

new water plants

 a fertile crescent

 these drifts of pale yellow

 are pollen

so many trees are flowering

and the northern forest

is rich. 

this was my desk thursday

royalty visited,

or was it lori

the best teacher assistant in the world

who brought me a little bit of spring

for joy and then for printing.

monday after school

i leave for a workshop 

with dorothy caldwell.

i am so happy!

scattered into focus

 it's almost the end of the school year (a week and a half to go)

and i'm experimenting

 this little bit of kozo traveled my table

and landed on this announcement from frank

 and became briefly a moon

 i have saved many

like this laying mama snapper

and many, many painteds

but not all

by any means.

this morning's snapper

did NOT appreciate my shovel 

helping her across the busy highway.

but she made it.

 at the new place the little drainage

nameless

 with reflections

and despite all odds

 up through the gravel roadbed

 this fellow emerged

 happily

and happy even when

i photograph the thing upsidedown.

~~~

i told you i'm scattered

next weekend i will be on my way to colorado 

snappers

5:30 am at wake robin

last night, after a day from july, sleeping was...warm. then add in power surges and a thunder storm. my poor ear, hairline, chin, and a variety of unreachable spots are hot after the visits by black flies, deer flies, mosquitoes, and one bot fly. kinda hard to photograph bug bites!

bad ear

anyway, i headed off to work with no time to spare but 3 miles away i turned around to come home and fetch my camera.

now this is some mama! snapping turtles like the roadsides here because of the nice, sandy soils built up, i think, from years of sanding the roads all winter. maybe 100 feet away was 

a younger mama, not quite  so large. i was careful not to disturb them (ha! these mamas would just as soon bite off my finger given the opportunity) because i want the eggs to have a chance. already this afternoon i could only spot one egg depository site from the car.

i so want to dig up a few eggs and 1) eat one, 2) raise one here in a bucket of sand in my home, and 3) touch one. i will do none of those things. if you could feel the intense female energy surrounding these ladies as they were working, right there next to speeding traffic, you would be in awe of them, too. this year my first turtle sighting was a painted turtle, yesterday i saw a dead snapper, and now these two, successful egg layers. indicating an auspicious four day weekend.