A Word From the Wise

On the golden coast, in the city of trees is where you'll find me.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

WHAT

[ririazul]

[helpingg]

[imagination]

[goodstuffhappenedtoday]

He realized his dogs have an unusual skill. Now he uses them to help save turtles.

By Cathy Free

John Rucker was a high school English teacher in North Carolina when he stumbled upon something interesting: Whenever he took his two dogs hiking, they would run into the tall grass and bring him back box turtles. Like a gift, his Boykin spaniels would gently lay them at his feet, unharmed.

He mentioned it to a few people, and soon, biology teachers from the University of North Carolina started reaching out to him and asking whether he would take their students out so they could put transmitters on the turtles to study them.

Several years later, the outings were so successful, Rucker was fielding calls from wildlife veterinarians and zoologists who were studying turtle populations.

“Because turtles aren’t easily detected in the wild by the human eye, I could see that I was on to something,” said Rucker, now 73.

Now, two decades later, Rucker’s spaniels are a highly in-demand, specialized team trained to sniff out box turtles by following their urine trails.

The dogs — Yogi, Ruger, Jenny Wren, Lazarus, Scamp, Skeeter and Rooster — travel across the country with Rucker helping to track turtle populations and identify threats and diseases.

[bladelei]

Good Bois for SCIENCE

[mikarchive-deactivated20250714]

mary oliver, the pond

[flowerais-deactivated20211031]

your future self loves you. they will look through old photos of you with affection, not disgust, nor embarrassment. they wish they could tell you stories of your future, of how much you’ll change, of the people you’ll meet, of how you’ll eventually learn to accept yourself, then love yourself. they will read your diary entries and poems and favourite lyrics, heart aching, tears in their eyes. if only you knew...

your future self loves you. if only they could show you. they are living proof. you’ll turn out okay after all. they wish they were there to console you, dance with you, and make you write it a hundred times: “I AM LOVED”. they will listen to playlists you made, just to experience you again. they will write you a letter - of forgiveness, longing, reassurance. you will never read it. but you will know.

[jehovahhthickness]

I really hope the universe brings me to the right people I need in my life this year.

[jiniretdoll]

[thoughtkick]

“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.”

— Lemony Snicket

[br-o-ken-poetry]

“Winter reaches the dark places in your heart you manage to keep hidden the rest of the year. It simply knows where to look. The cold; the darkness… It gets inside you. And it gives you feelings you thought you’d escaped.”

— broken thoughts

[suitupweird]

[sabonhomeblog]

St John’s Episcopal Church; Edinburgh

[naturaekos]

“In every end, there is also a beginning.”

—

[saynethingb]

Of all the fire food I had, I miss the yogurt the most. #pikesplacemarket #ellenos #Seattle #pnw (at Pike Place Market) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bur6xIFnUjT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13vdww146fobt

[saynethingb]

This city is magic. #seattle (at Space Needle) https://www.instagram.com/p/BumrBL1HPvh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zu7t1sq0pp7f

[saynethingb]

Happy 29th Solar return to me! I started this year off with changes in every turn of my life. I see now that a lot of those changes were for the best. Wishing for the best for the rest of this year. #29 #sheold (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhZ6G2h3zo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3tytil9vc3f3

[saynethingb]

Happy 29th Solar return to me! I started this year off with changes in every turn of my life. I see now that a lot of those changes were for the best. Wishing for the best for the rest of this year. #29 #sheold (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhZXVmBPDm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1bvsg6dnirnki