Daoist Monk Yun Rou

Approaching the one year anniversary of brain surgery in cardiac arrest, I managed to travel to St. Louis and used no wheelchair in any of three airports and took a 1 mile walk around this lake. Feeling pretty triumphant about that walking has not been easy.

In my novel, LOVE BECOMES HER, I ask what kind of a woman would be the perfect soulmate for the Great Chinese Sage, Lao Tzu. I decided that with his understanding of yin and yang and his great love of all Nature, he would create his partner by magically transforming a tortoise into a woman. Turtles in general are associated with Daoism, and many Daoist temples around the world feature turtle statuary (often with a snake on the carapace to represent yang to go with the pure yin of the turtle) and often turtles in ponds, too. Turtles are frequently seen in Buddhist temples, too, particularly in Southeast Asia, where I have encountered many beautiful animals donated to the temple in hopes of good karma, sometimes having been rescued from a market. I’m guilty of finding a few choice animals in markets myself and saving them from the soup pot, although I released them into the wild rather than into captivity.

My lifelong love affair with turtles is even older than my relationship with Daoism, and that’s saying something. The former started when I was nine years old, the latter three years later. Little did I know that animals I kept and cherished in a New York City apartment would become some of the most endangered vertebrates on Earth. Working at a couple of zoos and doing some of my own breeding, I’ve remained bedazzled by them for well more than half a century. For decades I raised giant tortoises from hatchlings to huge creatures. More recently, I’ve come to know Asian box turtles of the marvelous genus Cuora. In my book TURTLE PLANET I explore the plight of turtles worldwide in a magical, mystical, and spiritual way. If you love turtles, please enjoy those two books and let me know that you have.

This little gem is a Pan’s box turtle. Cuora pani. They are bred in numbers in commercial farms in China but have now departed the wild. I’ve had a great time with them and find them particularly charming and beautiful. Some people prefer their “cousins”, the Golden Headed Box turtle, which at one point was considered a different subspecies of the same animal. I like both varieties. Even more popular are McCord’s Box turtle, which are larger and more colorful. There is a great exhibit of them at the St. Louis Zoo. All are very, very rare in collections in the US. I have a soft spot for these guys.

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Saw this beautiful buck outside my office window yesterday. Quite a rack. Velvet. Breeding season is coming but it has been hot and dry. offer so much wonderful viewing here in . Makes a heart sing.

I spent years raising this group of Southeast Asian keeled from hatchlings. Now this one, the youngest and smallest female, emerges from the mist like a prehistoric creature. She gives me the eyeball every morning.

When I moved to six years ago, I spent quite a bit of time planting a garden in the desert. Trees and and and hedges on my small lot. This surprised and delighted me this morning with these 13 magnificent blooms! There is a bee hive nearby and the are in a frenzy of excitement, swarming all over them.

Some of my most memorable experiences have been in and around the , and especially in my younger days, under it while . Encounters with of all sorts and sizes have always been special, as have encounters with and Early in my studies of I was drawn to though I did not pursue that field.

After decades of good luck treasuring the , pollution and the destruction of the oceans soured beaches and swimming for me. Coral bleaching and fish die-offs broke my heart. I moved away from beaches soiled by medical waste and trash and avoided water with a film of oil and gas. In the last few days I went out on a boat off and enjoyed a few hours in the company of marine wildlife. I did not alter my consciousness artificially for this. I let do the work. teaches that is the only constant.

Congratulations to my brilliant and dedicated son, Tasman Ezra for winning this august conservation prize while still still just at the start of his career! I’m so proud of him and the difference he is already making in the world with his studies and his charitable organization,

Views from have been particularly beautiful lately, especially following a steady rain the other day. love mountains

A beautiful