Garden Turtle

We adopted this turtle over the weekend. He cost five dollars plus tax. I say he because I don't know how to determine the gender of turtle statues. I could refer to the turtle as an it, but that seems callous. I find it funny that while the statue is simply the representation of a turtle resting on a rock, I'm compelled to refer to it as a turtle. I also find it funny that I used the term "adopt" instead of "bought" to describe how we obtained it, I mean, him.

He currently resides on the mound in the backyard, along with three silver dusts, a geranium, a dormant paper white and a flowering plant with purple and white petals that I will never remember the name of no matter how many times I'm told. All I know is that it has been doing a lot better ever since we put out bait to keep the snails from munching on it.

The turtle is the first statue in the backyard. I imagine that most people, after feeling the elation of buying their first ornament and seeing how it enhances their garden, hope to repeat the experience and rush out to buy their next one. Before they know it, they have ducks and frogs and gnomes and rabbits crowding their shrubs and lining their walkways. As the number of garden ornament population multiplies, the effect moves from charming to creepy. I'm hoping to avoid that.

I'm quite content to let the turtle be the first and only garden dweller for the time being. If we happen across a suitable second, we'll likely adopt it, but I'm in no hurry. There is more than enough gardening to do before I worry about another ornament.