When I spotted this Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I immediately thought how apt a visual metaphor it was for our lives this past year. Surrounded by its protective shell, the turtle tentatively looked out at a hostile world, wondering if it was safe to stick out its neck and move forward.
It is still not completely safe, but conditions appear to be improving somewhat in many parts of the world. Yesterday I had my second Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination shot and I hope that as many people as possible will choose to get vaccinated when they have the chance.
In the meantime, we owe it to each other to continue to wear our masks, to wash our hands, and to practice social distancing. None of us really like these restrictions, but they will protect us as we await the day when we can all come out of our shells.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
So nice that you already got your vaccin. We stil have to wait.
One of the few benefits of being over 65 years old was that I was in one of the earlier groups to be vaccinated. It will take a while for vaccines to be produced and distributed. Most forecasters predict that things will really begin to improve at the end of the summer.
Great news about your vaccination, and a witty way to illustrate our shared desire to escape the shells that Covid has forced on us all.
Thanks. I wanted to make some points without getting overly political about it and the turtle shot offered me a way to do that. 🙂
The points were well made, and I’m fully on board with them. And I like turtles too 🙂.
Great analogy, Mike. My first shot is Saturday!
Congratulations, Eliza. In my county, there was a huge backlog, but they have really cut into that and are opening new sites all the time–there is one opening next week near me that will handle up to 5,000 shots a day.
I saw this great photo and immediately related to your title, Mike, perfect for this strange time and yet another stage of the pandemic. I anxiously await “my turn” but I think it won’t be long now. Cheers to you and the vaccines too.
Nicely put, Michael
Amazing blog 😊
Great metaphor Mike!
Love this Mike and I’ve shared on twitter .. perfectly put!
Thanks, Liz. In the past I have tried to put a posting on Twitter from my computer, but it did not work.
You’re right: A turtle is the perfect metaphor! Yesterday we saw our first (garter) snake of 2021.
Congratulations on getting your second shot. My husband gets his today. In 2 weeks, our household of three will be immunized!
It’s been less than seventeen years since I started following your blog. Will you be posting many images of our periodic magicicada horde? I hope so.
Thanks, Nina. Psychologically getting the second shot was a big deal, though we will continue to live with physical restrictions fo quite some time. I am sure I will get some shots of the cicadas, which should be hard to miss. In the meantime, here is a link to a cicada posting I did in 2013 which should hold you until I get newer shots. (https://michaelqpowell.com/2013/05/27/beauty-and-the-beast/)