There was still some trepidation as I rode on the roads with the cars. For the most part cars are very respectful but the few that cut it close don't help. All-in-all a good ride. Even though the temperature was 69 when I left, it quickly warmed up. And, it wasn't the heat but the humidity that let me know summer wasn't too far around the corner. It was 79 when I arrived back home but it felt much warmer.
Nothing special of the photograph of the snapping turtle but there is a somewhat amusing story attached to this turtle. On Habberton Rd., a small white car with two passengers and a brown lab in the back seat passed me. A bit further down the road, I saw the car stopped in the road and the two passengers (teenage girl and her mother(?)) on the side of the road looking at something in the grass. As I pulled up I saw it was a snapping turtle. However, I couldn't figure out why it was straddling a blue leash. It turned out the girl took the dog leash to try and capture the turtle. "What were you going to do with it?" I asked. They had no idea. But by the time I had gotten there, they had given up on the idea of snagging the turtle and just trying to retrieve the leash. Every time the girl tried to reach for the leash, the turtle lunged for her hand. So, the mother got the idea to throw rocks at the turtle which, remarkably, worked. Every time she threw a rock at the turtle, it lunged toward the rock, slowly making its way off the leash. I looked around for a stick to end the bombardment but did not see one nearby. After a few poundings, the turtle had moved far enough away that the girl was able to reach down and pull the leash out from beneath the turtle.
Thistle can be a very pretty plant and flower despite its very thorny stem. I know they are a real problem for cow pastures. I have heard, but I'm not sure if this is true, that thistle is actually illegal to grow in Arkansas.
Today's Ride: 2hrs 14mins. 25.02 miles. 69-79 degrees. Miles YTD: 2,987.01
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