{"id":8923,"date":"2011-04-25T19:47:22","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T00:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=8923"},"modified":"2011-04-25T19:47:22","modified_gmt":"2011-04-26T00:47:22","slug":"discovering-the-road-not-taken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=8923","title":{"rendered":"Discovering the Road Not Taken"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Rufus Retriever Marks Her Own Path<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Two\u00c2\u00a0roads diverged in a yellow wood,<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

And sorry I could not travel both …”<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

begins the sacred words of\u00c2\u00a0every dogs’ patron poet Robert Frost.\u00c2\u00a0 And I, Rufus Retriever, approaching the end of my six months of playful puppyhood, must choose my path.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s the much trodden way of four-legged lives clipped to a too short leash, sniffing smells that each in turn shares with the other.\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing new as each sun rises and each sun sets with the east still east and the west still west.\u00c2\u00a0 Not for me this\u00c2\u00a0flat paved road from yesterday to tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Rumpled Rufus<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wake-up came early on Easter morn as I savored\u00c2\u00a0my last virtual romp through the cabbage patch in pursuit of\u00c2\u00a0the Giant White Rabbit.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0White Rabbit Eggs?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Though I never caught clear glimpse of\u00c2\u00a0his presence that I had only sensed in pre-dawn shadows, he must\u00c2\u00a0have been\u00c2\u00a0as white as the eggs he left for us to decorate on\u00c2\u00a0Easter Eve.\u00c2\u00a0 Truth be told, I was surprised to learn that rabbits laid eggs, but as a budding scientist, I yearn for these surprise discoveries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\"easter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Coloring Rabbit Eggs<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It was fun to watch preparations as\u00c2\u00a0cold water, tablets and vinegar were combined with white rabbit eggs to produce a festival of color and design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

A Dozen Rabbits in Waiting, I Guess<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though one egg looked suspiciously like turtle, I guess they represent some sort of celebration in honor of the future hatching of baby white rabbits.\u00c2\u00a0 Again, there’s a lot I still don’t understand, such as why we placed the perfect white rabbit eggs in boiling water; although I suppose it could have been for rapid incubation.\u00c2\u00a0 And then why we decorated each of the eggs individually; although I guess even baby rabbits want to be unique.<\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Rufus Contemplates Her Future<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With Easter Eve as prologue, and the morning yawns behind me, I dashed into the woods\u00c2\u00a0in sure hope that Frost would guide me to the road less traveled.\u00c2\u00a0 I will confess that my thoughts wandered a bit as\u00c2\u00a0I spyed the size of my paws and wondered whether I would ever stop growing.\u00c2\u00a0 Would I gain the stature of the Giant White Rabbit?\u00c2\u00a0 But those were transient thoughts, and I focused on my chosen path as the singular canine naturalist.<\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Rufus Sniffs for Adventure<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Where would I find today’s discovery?\u00c2\u00a0 I scrambled along the rock jetties of Silvershell Beach and\u00c2\u00a0sniffed the abutting salt marshes.<\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Rufus Experiments with Rockweed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While the smells were delightful, and I detected a faint sign that my neighbor golden retriever Harry had stopped by the beach last night, the weather was still a bit chilly for estuary critters to be on the march.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, I liked the tasty\u00c2\u00a0rockweed (Fucus sp.<\/em>)\u00c2\u00a0and bursting the little air sacs proved a cool experiment.<\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Rufus Discovers Female Spotted Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With nothing exciting at the beach, I galloped over to the bog wetlands and immediately encountered a female spotted turtle that was basking along the edge of an abandoned cranberry bog channel.\u00c2\u00a0 I alerted my research assistant (and minder) Becky Nourse, and we carefully examined the turtle to extract lots of scientific data.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, they have not yet entrusted me with\u00c2\u00a0a smart phone, so I had to permit my assistant to document\u00c2\u00a0the find.<\/p>\n

\"easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Satisfied Rufus Retriever<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

All in all, a perfect ending\u00c2\u00a0 to a perfect day as I explored the future with Robert Frost as my compass,<\/p>\n

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

I took the one less traveled by”<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rufus Retriever Marks Her Own Path “Two\u00c2\u00a0roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both …” begins the sacred words of\u00c2\u00a0every dogs’ patron poet Robert Frost.\u00c2\u00a0 And I, Rufus Retriever, approaching the end of my six months of playful puppyhood, must choose my path.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s the much trodden way of four-legged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[402,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8923"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8978,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923\/revisions\/8978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}