Sunflowers and sea turtles

I cannot believe that between my last note and this one a war has started.

I am heartbroken for the people of Ukraine. I am sad and worried and hoping the brutality stops soon.

I spent several weeks in and around Odessa years ago. As we drove in the countryside, we passed fields of sunflowers nodding against a blue sky—which some say are the inspiration for the Ukrainian flag.

One of the sunflower fields I passed that day. I particularly love the extra tall ones.

The image of those sunflowers keeps coming to my mind. It isn’t the season for them now. But I keep thinking about how nature, even the crops we plant, bear witness to our lives. To the beauty but also to the violence.

I went out to see the ocean with a new friend the day the war started. Watching the waves settles my mind and reminds me of the things that happen without us. Sometimes in spite of us. The life beneath the surface of the water.

When the world seems like a lot—as it does these days—I love to think of our leatherbacks swimming south. Doing what their species has been doing for millennia.

This is the time of year we get particularly excited about watching their satellite tracks because nesting season has begun for the western Atlantic population of leatherbacks. Two of ours are far south right now and we are hoping they’ll nest this year. Something to look forward to.

Although the turtles have scientific numbers in our database, we also name them for fun. These two are Cass and Rihanna. (Rihanna’s music was a favourite on the 2021 field boat and we love that she is from the Caribbean, where so many of “our” leatherbacks go!) Cass is the green track and Rihanna is the blue.

This is a close up of where these leatherbacks are now—hanging off the coast of Trinidad. Again, Cass is in green, Rihanna in blue. We were tickled to watch the sea turtle Rihanna swinging near Barbados, where the singer Rihanna is from.