Contemplating a Deep Blue Sky

Midday Monday, the sky was the purest deep blue that I have seen here in San Antonio in a long time. The intense blue of the calm river water is a reflection of the sky. The slider turtles were out taking full advantage of the bright sun shining through the clear sky. Turtles, like most other reptiles, take advantage of the sun to help regulate their body temperature:

If we could communicate with turtles, I suspect we would learn much about life. They spend a lot of their time silently observing all that occurs around them. From the personal experience of having shared my backyard with a Red-eared Slider Turtle for twenty some odd years, I know firsthand just how observant and surprisingly intelligent these turtles are.

This set of photographs was taken on the Mission Reach at the confluence of the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek on Monday, October 7, 2013.