Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

So, the race is on:

• Christmas (like an old drunk, sitting on the curb, pretending that you think he doesn’t see you approaching)
• the end of the year (like the gf/bf who becomes increasingly quiet where once they were too loud, polite where they’d been rude, they think you don’t notice their glances at their phones)
• the beginning of Summer* (the promise that we embraced and hold onto, like the childhood book, cover long-missing, dog-ears worked to the point of falling off un-noticed, re-read to the point that even the two inches of print visible when you fan the time-soiled pages are familiar enough to start the dialogue in your mind, your heart moves, eagerly if not carefully, to the edge of its seat)

The Wakefield Doctrine is here for you. Wherever you are, there is a situation, a context, an interaction in which your participation can be enhanced by a application of the principles (of the Wakefield Doctrine).

For sure.

From back in 2015. (July 20th, to be precise. Betcha it was warmer than the current temperature of: 37° Frankenstein)

You remember then… it was, like, what, seven years or so ago, back when assessing physical condition was not the first priority upon waking (at least, not in any kind of good, hopeful or optimistic way…lol)

Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “…me and this turtle.”

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

“..ok so that’s not a turtle, but at glance you might have thought that was me this morning.”

…so I’m driving along a semi-rural road* this morning and up ahead in the road, I see this turtle. It’s like, totally in the middle of the road, as in the lane marker. Not only is he/she in the middle of the road, apparently, he/she has decided to take a much needed rest.  In the middle of the road.

…the mind (of a clark) is an amazing thing. In the space of time between seeing the turtle, (about 100 feet ahead). and passing it on the left, the following went on in my mind:

• ‘hey! that’s a turtle up ahead’
• ‘I didn’t stop the last time I came across this situation’
• ‘…how many times have I come across this situation, that’s pretty odd, there was that one time in the Vineyard, must have been 5 or so… no you’re weren’t driving, lol’
• ‘nobody coming, I’m gonna stop… it might make a difference, provided nobody comes along and hits my car or laughs at me’
• ‘screw that I’m stopping’

I did stop the car (in the lane of travel), ’cause there was no breakdown lane, this being a semi-rural road. I did run back, as I’d pulled over about 25 feet past my new reptilian friend. I noticed that the turtle was about 4 inches wide and, maybe, 6 inches long. It immediately went into retreat-into-shell mode. Picked it up, carried to the side of the road, put it down and ran back to my car.

…I’ll surely have more insightful commentary on this morning’s encounter, but right now I have a pile of ‘non-turtle-related’ work on my desk and so, I need to stop at this point.

 

* meaning: houses along the road, but all set back from the road, in the woods, like an acre or more of land and genuine, put-there-by-manual-back-breaking-labor-not-because-it-looks-utterly-charming-but-because-they’re-trying-to-grow-food-so-the-seven-children-(who managed to survive childbirth)-could-eat-and-maybe-grow-to-be-more-than-5’2″-tall

 

* Winter Solistice marks not only the shortest day of the year, but the tilting of the globe back towards Warmville and the summer months…

#theWakefieldDoctrine