Poem for Thursday and Sunning Turtles

Afternoon Sun
By Jana Kalina

Lounging
train-like
on the rocks,
they rest in silence.

The first,
eyes open. Alert.
Head, on fully extended neck,
follows sounds
in steady, slow-motion.

The second,
eyes closed — head,
on outstretched neck, placed
on the back of the first —
but, not dreaming;
 
a momentary surrender
to the afternoon sun
at the edge of the pond:

where hawks hover,
geese gather
and ducks squawk and squabble.
And, adults pass by

and children run through
and no one notices
the turtles' peace

on the rocks,
among the rushes.

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I had a long lunchtime chat on Wednesday with my high school friends -- first Kay and I had to switch from Google to Zoom because we had connection issues, then Linda came on but her daughter is visiting so she couldn't stay, so Kay and I talked for a while then went to get lunch, and meanwhile Hildy got home so we got back online to talk to her. So that was a nice center of an otherwise uneventful day, overcast and a bit cool but I took a walk and then went to the Pokemon gym at raid hour to get one of the new Thunderus forms. 

Paul made Irish stew with fake beef and real Guinness for dinner, after which we watched The Masked Singer, which had one of the more entertaining unmaskings of the series. Afterward, since it's awards season, we watched For Your Consideration, which we saw so long ago that we didn't remember what happened -- John Michael Higgins was my high school drama teacher so it's always fun seeing him in those films. Here are some of the turtles in the C&O Canal last weekend when they all emerged to see the sun: