Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Off to Write

First, I have to share this comment, which was left on the blog a few minutes ago (the bleep on line one is mine):

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Freeware & Online Tools for Writers":

Hey you! All this stuff is so [bleep] great for writers around the universe. THANKS A LOT. I would retweet it, but... HOW? NEITHER YOU'VE A TWITTER OR FACEBOOK PROFILE. Gwt one, to get more people coming around you.

and my response:

Dear Anonymous:

Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you thought all this stuff was so [bleep] great. Alas, I'm never going to have a Twitter or Facebook profile. Ever. The universe will collapse first. So please stop screaming at me.

Sincerely,
PBW


Now that I've taken care of that, I'm heading off to finish some work and family committments. So that your visit here was not entirely wasted, here are some photos of our the latest backyard drama:



From the porch I spotted a couple of tortoises playing follow-the-leader. We have a couple of burrows on our property, but since I've never seen two of them together like this, I thought they might be a couple in the making.



The larger tortoise in the front kept stopping to nibble on weeds (another reason to love these critters -- they're natural born weedeaters) while the smaller one kept rearending the back of his shell.



Finally the big one turned on the smaller one, and while I didn't get a picture of it, the smaller one promptly rammed into his side and tried to flip him onto his back.



That's when I realized they were probably not lovers in the making, but members of the same gender who were fighting over territory.



Watching tortoises fight is hilarious. They go nose to nose, bob their heads like . . . bobbleheads, I guess. One time they pulled inside their shells and rammed each other head-on, and the collision sounded like a mini fender bender.

The smaller one kept using his flippers to fling dirt at the bigger one, but whenever the big one became more aggressive, he would retreat in his shell. Oddly enough neither one snapped at each other; maybe sea turtles are the only ones who do that.



After about ten minutes of this the two stopped fighting, sat side-by-side for a minute, and then turned away from each other and went their separate ways. So it was a stalemate, or they just got tired of me taking pictures of the fight.

Kind of reminded me of some of the battles I've watched on the internet.

17 comments:

  1. This is fascinating. Thank you for the play-by-play too.
    One never thinks of turtles in combat!

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  2. Ha! We've only had individual turtles wander through, so I've never seen two go at it. Funny creatures.

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  3. Anonymous7:07 AM

    Actually, the little one reminded me of my 17-year-old nephew's driving skills. ;-)

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  4. Heh. I like the second to the last one.

    And um, I'm going to guess that anonymous hasn't visited here before, or not often, otherwise s/he'd have seen your numerous posts that make it kind of clear what you think about facebook & twitter... *G*

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  5. Go write and have fun...the world will take of itself...and we are anxiously awaiting your next work.:)

    I am sending my daughter to this post....she loves Turtles/Tortoises...

    By the way, I come to your blog to find out about you and your books...if you were on FB....you would get lost in the morass of inane posts and back biting that goes on. Twitter? Same. Which reminds me....when I use 'Friend' it means something other than a random person who sends me random crap. ....:)

    Thanks and enjoy your day...how ever you want!

    Be well, Debra

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  6. First, if you have a blog that we can follow, do you actually need FB or Twitter? I don't think it's necessary. I think the blog is more personal and more thought-out.

    Thanks for sharing the pictures.

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  7. Anonymous8:18 AM

    Lynn,
    Hmm, no Facebook or Twitter. I think I'm okay with that. I like that you are standing your ground. Readers who truly love you will come to your blog to follow you. I would rather read your blogs every day instead of get a short "tweet" every hour about what is going on. You take the time to inform us about new finds (I have already played with the collage program and my wedding photos look awesome!), how your writing is going (where is Chrysallis?) and share wonderful photos. Keep it up. This reader loves it!
    Tami
    Jacksonville
    P.S. I don't "tweet" either, but I did finally break down and get a Facebook page.

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  8. I swear Lynn you need to have a reality show. Not of you, but of the wildlife in your yard. It's endlessly entertaining. Never thought of tortoises battling either, but it's fascinating.

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  9. Apparently your anon commenter isn't aware of Firefox's Add This plugin which allows anyone to post anything to their Twitter or Facebook profile. I do it all the time, whether the blogger in question has a Twitter or Facebook profile or not.

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  10. Well, they could always just create a new Tweet.

    But oh yes, I forgot, that might actually mean a bit of effort, rather than just pressing the "retweet" button.

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  11. LOL, that sounds like something I'd do - spend ten minutes watching a tortoise fight. I'd probably even do a silly play-by-play of the action. "In this corner..." Thanks for sharing the photos. They were great.

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  12. Anonymous10:57 AM

    so cute! I had no idea tortoises live on land. I always assumed they waddled about in ponds terrapins. All I have in my backyard are rats :(

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  13. I will never have a Facebook or Twitter account either!

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  14. I also refuse to Twitter. It's stoopid. Period.

    I only have a Facebook page because I got talked into it a few years ago, and I pretty much ignore it. I don't care about anyone's thoughtless one-sentence updates, dammit. Nor do I want to reconnect with exes. Not Fun.

    I do hate how these things are apparently "mandatory" now. Ugh.

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  15. Great photos. Only a writer would stay and watch and consider the "action."

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  16. those are huge!!!

    what is the difference b/w turtles and tortoises?

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