Tales From Turkey,  The Seasons

Springtime In Fethiye

Photograhs by Mike Vickers

Feature photo above: New fig leaves

With the current essential restrictions on movement impacting on our lives, everything seems to have ground to a sudden halt. Well, almost everything. It’s a sobering thought and a reminder of our position on this planet that nature continues on with blithe indifference to the woes of man. Beauty is all around us and whereas under more normal circumstances this beauty might not necessarily come to our notice as we go about our busy lives, the vimtovirus pandemic has made us all suddenly conscious of our surroundings by bringing everything to a skidding halt, allowing more time to look around and appreciate Mother Nature in all her glory.


With that in mind, here’s what I saw on my last visit to the centrum the other week, cycling along the Blue Path Of Beauty (a.k.a the kordon cycle track) to the bank to withdraw funds for emergency chocolate, biscuits and gin to help us weather these troubled times. Every photo below was taken on that one journey – all I had to do was keep my eyes open and my camera handy.

These lovely water lillies were massed in the canal next to the offices of the Park Manager. As is sometimes the case, however, with beauty comes the beast – it was here I saw my first active Ottoman Viper of the year swimming through the lilly pads.
In the same canal but a little further on, a family of terrapins sunning themselves on a pipe in the canal near our house. They were watching an episode of Family Fortunes. ‘Name a bird with a long neck.’  Here’s the amphibious equivalent…
Wisteria draped languidly over an entrance gate. The scent was absolutely heavenly – it was like cycling through a branch of D&P Perfumery.
A Study Of Dog And Scooter. No, not an accident, but Barry taking time out to relax in the shade at a normally bustling corner of town. This scene of somnambulistic serenity was taken by the pedestrian crossing at Kordon Korner, where the big canal empties into the sea. It was just me and him…
Now on the return journey, I came across this canal-side mimosa, its yellow flowers dazzling in the bright sunshine, branches drooping under their weight. Loads of frogs were ribbit, ribbit, ribbiting down in the water.
Nearly back home now, and just around the corner from our house, an overgrown field full of lovely poppies.
And when I finally got home, I found there was nowhere to sit in the garden…