This Car (or Runner) Stops for Turtles

When I was a little girl and lived out in the country in Tennessee, if we spotted a turtle on the side of the road, Mom would pull over and catch it for us. She would put it in the back of the station wagon, and Katey and I would anxiously await the arrival home so we could play with our new (and short-lived) pet. Mostly I just remember painting the turtle's shell before sending it back out into the wild...the envy of all it's turtle friends whose shells were green, and brown, and boring.

Of course, there was the one time when Mom stopped for a turtle, put it in the back of the station wagon, and it tried to escape. He was probably akin to the Count of Monte Cristo, for it tried and tried to scratch the vinyl away so it could make it's way to freedom. All that racket scared Katey and I. We screamed it would climb out, and get to us, and scratch us. So, Mom stopped the car and released that turtle back into the wild before we ever made it home. I'm not sure who was relieved more: Mom, Katey and I, or the turtle.

Over the years, my family has had a series of "pet" turtles found in the yard or along the side of the road. There was Tommy, who my sister Jenny adored. She would sit in the cage with him, or carry him lovingly around - upside down. The poor thing saw the world upside down so much when we released it, it circled right back to our home. It did this three times before it finally managed to find a getaway.

In our last home in New Hampshire, some snapping turtle must have laid it's eggs not too far from our house. By the time we finished combing the lawn, we came up with a dozen or more little snappers we raced before releasing in our wetland area. But the only turtle that was truly a pet for many years was Daniel's little snapper Diamond. His little snapper Spike didn't last quite as long, thanks to Abby dropping him into the toy box never to be found again until he had shriveled up and died. Not sure Daniel every forgave her for that...

Well, yesterday while I was out running at the park, I came across a turtle in my path. A little thing I couldn't resist picking up and taking back to the office with me. My excuse was I was teaching the kids at church that night and every kid loves to play with a turtle, right? Dubbed "George" by the other office manager, he has been my pet now for 24 hours. I'll release him back into the wild in a little while where he can wander along and tell all his turtle friends about the ice cold office he nearly hibernated in, the car rides, falling off my desk, and the kids that enjoyed him. He'll be the envy of all his small-world turtle friends...even if I didn't have time to paint his shell.

George hibernating - I keep the office quite cold!

My car was much warmer!