When you’re ancient, you can feel it in your bones….literally. Every tiny but mighty footprint you take evokes the legends of the mighty and enormous beings you predated and then outlived. If that popular so-called “reality” show about survival that the large shell-less beings seem to favor accepted shelled contestants, there is no doubt whoContinueContinue reading “Day 230: The Small Spiky Tortoise”
Author Archives: Shannon Cutts
Day 229: Cockatiel Is the Muffin Master
In a wild setting, cockatiels live in enormous flocks numbering hundreds or thousands of feathers. It is glorious….but competitive. Sure, there are lots of ladybirds. But there are also lots of manbirds. Nesting sites abound. But so do their occupants. Victuals are plentiful. But at dinner time the line stretches around the block. Of course,ContinueContinue reading “Day 229: Cockatiel Is the Muffin Master”
Day 228: Box Turtle Beauty Tips
For the large shell-less beings, the older you get, the older you tend to feel….and look. Not so if you are lucky enough to arrive wearing a shell. For starters, shells are not prone to wrinkling, sagging or drooping. They stay lovely and youthful looking….even when the rest of you perhaps does not. Also, withContinueContinue reading “Day 228: Box Turtle Beauty Tips”
Day 227: The Tortoise and the Trees
Having a shell on your back usually means you aren’t ever going to win any height contests. Nope. The trees will stay high and you will stay low and that is just fine by you both. Even though you and your cozy shell don’t prefer to do any actual climbing, it can still be niceContinueContinue reading “Day 227: The Tortoise and the Trees”
Day 226: A Very Cute Cockatiel Chick
In the eyes of the world, you may be a successful CEO with feathers. You have your own blog. You’ve co-authored two books. Everyone wants your beak-o-graph. Clearly, you are a mover and shaker, a flapper and high-flier, someone who has a well-feathered nest and is even now leaving an inspiring legacy for future generationsContinueContinue reading “Day 226: A Very Cute Cockatiel Chick”
Day 225: Box Turtle Peek-a-boo
The key to successfully training a large shell-less assistant is “measured cuteness.” In other words, you don’t want to hit her with all the cuteness you’ve got all at once. That could be overwhelming, causing her to faint dead away and shirk her contractually stipulated flock care duties. A much wiser strategy is to doleContinueContinue reading “Day 225: Box Turtle Peek-a-boo”
Day 224: Tortoise Trains An Assistant
While it isn’t necessarily “normal” for shelled beings and shell-less beings to cohabitate, it can be a smart choice under certain circumstances. For example, let’s say you are born particularly cute. This means right from day one, your plate is full with evading paparazzi, posing for fan pics, foraging your meals and (of course) plentyContinueContinue reading “Day 224: Tortoise Trains An Assistant”
Day 223: Cockatiel Ponders Chicken Versus Egg
At a certain point in every being’s life, whether feathered or featherless, it is only natural to start pondering the bigger questions of life. Who am I? Where did I come from? How did I get here? What is my purpose in life? Of course, just having feathers all over your body makes some ofContinueContinue reading “Day 223: Cockatiel Ponders Chicken Versus Egg”
Day 222: Box Turtle Plays I Spy
If you are small and very stealthy and silent and have a large shell-less assistant who is anything but, there is a fun game called “I Spy” you can play to really freak her out. Here is what to do. Let’s say your assistant comes looking for you to do her daily “box turtle safetyContinueContinue reading “Day 222: Box Turtle Plays I Spy”
Day 221: Tiny Tortoise Grows Up
While there are lots of good things about arriving into this world in one of those popular small white round escape pods, there is one notable drawback. It’s not very big. Ergo, when you pop the hatch and take your first historic steps outside as a baby tortoise, you aren’t very big. This can makeContinueContinue reading “Day 221: Tiny Tortoise Grows Up”
Love & Feathers & Shells 