Convergence

The drought continues, and it's making history, with water levels in the local rivers lower than chroniclers have recorded in years, sometimes in as long as records have been kept. Closer to home, the lack of significant precipitation has kept the vernals dry, and the desert-like weather has turned a least one always-full pond into a temporary one. In the past, I've seen this pond reduced to little more than a central puddle, but I've never seen it completely disappear. Not only is it gone this year, its exposed bottom is actually firm—walking-across firm. At least one turtle, probably a large snapper, had lumbered across, its tracks recorded in the mud and its new garden of tiny green plants. The reptile may have had company, or maybe that divergence was simply the turtle deciding to take a slight detour on its return trip.