Sunday, October 25, 2020

Weather and the Tortoise

The cold front appears to be on its way.  It's been dark and cloudy most of the day, with high winds.  Just now the clouds have moved out and the skies are blue. The wind is now just howling.  There is actually a freeze warning for tomorrow night, I don't think I believe it.  However, we'll put a styrofoam cup over the top of the young cactus we have to protect the growth areas from the cold.

There was a sunset last night, the first half decent one in quite some time.

The tortoise has been returned to the desert.  Our neighbor is friends with a guy who is associated with Fish and Game.  They took him out to a part of Tucson Mountain Park where he can dig.  They need a sandy wash so they can shovel dirt.  Why did we pick him up in the first place?  He was heading for the wall in the front yard, there was no way out in that direction.  If he followed the wall around to its end, there were four foot drop offs on two sides of the yard, which could have been fatal.  Assuming he made it out the way he came in, he still had to cross the road without being run over by a car or speeding Amazon vehicle to get to the desert.  We decided it would be better to hand him off to someone who knows tortoises who could safely relocate him.

He has about two or three weeks to make a burrow and settle in for the winter.

Mark Meadows, the wombat's chief of staff, said out loud this morning that the fight against the pandemic would not be won.  The White House has capitulated. He's looking towards therapeutics and vaccines (none of which exist) to save the day.  In the mean time, five of Pence's aids have tested positive, much of the staff is isolating, and Pence continues to tour the US without wearing a mask.  El Paso is opening field hospitals with the help of the military because their hospitals are over run.  North Dakota is up to 109 cases per 100,000.  Utah is preparing to ration care, people who don't make progress in ICU will be moved to non-ICU beds, the young will take priority over the old.  But hey!  It will be like a miracle and it'll be gone soon.  I can't wait for two weeks after Thanksgiving to see what the numbers look like.


7 comments:

  1. We havent had any wind yet but they are still saying we're under a wind warning for tonight and tomorrow. We put the awning in to be sure.

    Happy to hear the tortoise has been relocated and can be a happy soul now.

    I just want this whole year to be over with.

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  2. The view is lovely. You are good souls saving the tortoise from demise.

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  3. I have to wonder how that tortoise got in your yard in the first place so far from its habitat. but good for y'all. if only all humans were so caring about the rest of the life on this planet. haven't had any good sunsets here in a long time but we are entering sunset season. we usually get the best ones in winter. our cold front lasted one day!

    hard to win a fight when you aren't even trying which has been their attitude from the get go.

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  4. Nice yard! I'm glad the tortoise is in the hands of an expert.

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  5. Thank you for taking care of the tortoise...you definitely did the right thing since there wasn't a good way for him/her to get back to a safe spot. The Pence thing is crazy. He came to NC yesterday bringing his germs with him. We don't want him here or anywhere. Just ugh!

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  6. I don't like to think how bad it may be, even by election day. I wonder how much little more the Cheeto may do before January.
    I've rescued the occasional turtle crossing the road. No tortoise here. Good for you, stepping up.

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  7. The tortoise landed in the right hands! I am sure he is as grateful as a tortoise can be. What Joanne said, Scary what may happen.

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