Helping The World One Turtle At A Time!

  Earlier today, I was working in the garden and Son was remodeling the shed when suddenly his work got really quiet.  Hmm, either he was pondering something difficult or had gotten distracted.  It is not like him to just quit working in the middle of a project.  After a bit, the curiosity got the best of me and I went to check on him.  Yep, he had gotten distracted...by a box turtle.  When I came through the garden gate, he was sitting on the shed deck and the little turtle was on the ground just looking up at him.  "I think she is hungry, Mom." he said.  This translated to , "Go find something for me to feed her."  I did.

  In the kitchen, there just happened to be a couple of apples sitting on the table.  Turtles like apples!  A quick slice and I was back out the door.  Son gently laid the apple within inches of the turtle's nose and she readily tried to eat.  For some reason, that turtle could not get a bite off of the chunk so Son picked up the apple and broke it into tiny pieces.  As soon as he went to place a piece down, the turtle came forward and took it from his fingers.  He snickered a bit and got another piece.  Same thing.  The turtle came forward and gently took the piece.  She tried to eat it all but dropped some.  In the meantime, he had another piece in hand and she left the morsel on the ground for the one in his hand.  Several times, she would patiently wait just looking at him until he broke another piece. Son sat hand-feeding a turtle for ten minutes.  One thing that I noticed about the turtle was that she was very, very careful not to bite Son as she took the morsel.  She cared enough not to harm the very one helping her. 

  While this may not seem like a momentous event to most folks, I found it endearing and appropriate for the day.  It is Earth Day, after all!  Be kind, folks.  It only takes a moment and could make a big difference.  Let's heal our old world.  It sure needs every helping hand it can get.