Monday, January 24, 2005

Schrödinger's Turtles

At the flea market last Friday I was hoping to get a better photo of the turtles, but they weren't there. I didn't remember them ever not being there before, and it felt as though the world had gone askew. There are always turtles at ShiTennoji.

But no. The Man tells me that the turtles have either been moved into quarantine, or died, from the Koi Herpes Virus that has been sweeping Japan for the past couple of years. "Well, which is it?" I asked. "Died, or quarantined? There is a difference, you know."

But he can't remember, useless man. He just remembers reading something about it. I have given him strict instructions to find out what happened to them EXACTLY. None of this waffly business. They are either dead or they're not. They're not Schrödinger's Cats. Or even Schrödinger's Turtles. (For a serious explanation of Schrödinger's Cat, try here, but that first link is much more entertaining.)

In any case, the turtles are gone. I hope they come back. I miss them. I miss throwing food in the pond for them to ignore.

Instead of turtles in the pond, there was just one lone bird, so I took a photo of that instead.



4 comments:

tinyhands said...

And the first link is funnier if you either speak German, or run the titles through a translator to discover that haarknäuel means hair ball.

Paula said...

Hi back! Nice blog--I shall link you. :-)

Anonymous said...

i love flea markets..i wish there were more of them around in abilene like bazaars ...

letti.blogspot.com

Badaunt said...

Paula: And vice versa. 'Tis done.

Tinyhands: WELL SPOTTED! I didn't notice that (not being a German speaker.)

letti.blogspot.com: Flea markets are my favourite vice. (Will check out your blog later - I just tried and instantly got so hungry I have to go and eat now.)