By Thomas S. Elias

This small stone is intended to represent a turtle. When placed on the piece of driftwood, the combination can evoke feelings of a turtle sunning itself on a log without being too explicit.

Pond turtles love to climb on a log and sun themselves during the warmer summer months. Are they enjoying the view, regulating their body temperature, or both? There is another practical and important reason. Turtles need sunlight to produce a vitamin that allows them to use calcium to make a strong shell. 

These old hard sedimentary stones with their patterns and surface cracks are most frequently seen in China. They are found less frequently in other Asian countries. This stone is 5.5 cm across and 3.7 cm thick.