Katie and the walking rock

I'm an animal person, that's a given. One of my favorites is the turtle. When I was a youngster, I used to spend a lot of time at my aunt & uncle's. One summer, while visiting, I found a box turtle crossing the street. It was a fairly busy street and this was a fairly slow turtle, even by turtle standards. It had nail polish trim and a hole drilled into it's shell so it had been part of a family at one time. It also had some cracks in its shell which told me it had been injured in some way. I took it home to my aunt & uncle's and cleaned the injuries and gave it some lettuce and carrots and then did what every kid does ... "can I keep it, please?" My aunt, figuring the turtle would wander, agreed and I had a pet. I named it, what else?, Myrtle.

It, like most turtles,was focused and intelligent. It stayed in our backyard until it was time for me to return home. I convinced my mom to let me bring it with me. Her rationale was the same as my aunt's, it would wander. I had that turtle for 3 years. Did you know turtles hibernate? I didn't either that first year and thought it was gone. In the spring, there it was waiting for a handout. Did you know turtles are affectionate? Who'd have guessed. Myrtle learned to recognize my voice and would come out to greet me when I called. That little head would stretch w-a-y out so I could stroke it.

I'm reminded of this because I heard Katie barking in the back the other day and she isn't a barker as a rule. I went out to see what was bothering her and saw her barking at a large rock. Upon closer inspection, the rock was actually a large and beautiful turtle. Kate was really confused by a rock that could walk and that stuck a head out at her. By the size and shell, this one had been around for a few years. The turtle was on a mission and focused but the direction of travel would have led to the road so I brought it to the side yard, gave it some lettuce and carrot and water, and watched as it snacked and then headed down toward the creek. Kate sat watching and leaning her head from one side to the other still trying to figure out what that "thing" had been.

I pretty much take for granted the deer, coyotes, raccoons, quail, woodpeckers and other critters that I share my home with, but this was a cool treat. It's one of the reasons I'm so contented here and why I so enjoy my view from the porch rocker.