If we've spoken on the phone lately, it's likely that I've called you from the turtle pond. It's a few blocks from our apartment and it's my new favorite place to go. I love to watch the turtles and examine their behavior (Did you know that turtles, like most reptiles, don't exhibit play behavior? When they are being aggressive, they ain't playin'. They mean it!). The surrounding park is a great place to read a book, and it was once a destination for a bunny field trip with Leroy.
I'm about to reveal my true strangeness for your entertainment:
Several years ago while working at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, I discovered a climbing plant that was covered in fuzzy bean pods. Being a Simms, I plucked one off the tree to take home as a treasure. The entire walk home I enjoyed petting this "velvet bean." When Zach came to visit, he asked me what the deal was with the bean-thing sitting on my desk. "That's my velvet bean," I calmly explained. "It feels good to pet, so sometimes I carry it around with me." He married me anyway. But the point is, the turtle pond park is home to a gazebo that hosts a hearty velvet bean plant, and now I can pluck them whenever I like. Turns out the plant is called "wisteria," which is not only a lovely plant, but one of my favorite words.
So soft!
