We are sure seeing a sunning turtle on Christmas brings good luck. There must be a legend... Hmm. In fact, there is a legend of the Christmas turtle on a blog I found. If you find a gift under the tree a few days after Christmas, it was delivered by Santa's Christmas turtle.
This goes well with the fable of the Christmas hare who wanted to race through the wrapping clean-up. The reckless rabbit managed to bag the Christmas checks and giftcards, and send them off to the landfill.
And what's up with turtle doves? Supposedly, they bring calm to the holiday season, mate for life, and inspire bards. The two in the "Twelve Days of" are European doves. In Texas we have eight kinds of doves, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, four types that can be hunted, and four that cannot. These doves were having trouble sharing at the holiday feeder a couple years ago;
At work I've been showing families two very cool empty turtle shells. Somewhere deep in our shared cultural memory we all have that image of a turtle climbing out of its shell and running around in its BVDs. Why, oh, why can't I find a source for that cartoon?
Some cartoon turtles I did find:
- 1951 Civil Defense "Duck and Cover" with Bert the Turtle
- Looney Tunes Cecil Turtle
- 1934 Disney "Tortoise and the Hare" Silly Symphonies
- 1948 "Old Shell Game" wolf and turtle cartoon
And an interesting Native American legend about the turtle who flew south for the winter. Curiosity goeth before the fall! Check out the punch line.
Happy holidays to all who find a little bit of peace on earth on the trails at Oak Point Nature Preserve.
1 comment:
Merry Christmas! Turtles are always charming but seeing them at Christmas is doubly so.
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