Eleanora is Happy!

   Ever since the weather warmed months ago, a female box turtle has been a steady occupant of the concrete pond that I dubbed as "Puddle Pond".  This little mud hole is at the end of "Pebble Creek" aka the drainage ditch.  The turtle and I have become quite friendly as, for a while, she depended on my help when she wanted out of the pond.  It seems that turtles are not adept at traversing gravel covered concrete.  She could get out of the water but not completely out of the pond area.  Each day, I would set her on dry ground under the blueberry bushes where she would burrow under the mulch during the heat of the day.  Each morning, she would be back in the pond feasting upon the tadpoles that were there by the millions.  I named her Eleanora simply because it hit me one morning that it was a fitting name.  She is quite the elegant turtle and needed an elegant, old-fashioned name so Eleanora came into being.

  I began to fret over my turtle friend.  It occurred to me that if I ever became incapacitated, Eleanora may never get out of the pond!  She would live in her own little paradise...until that paradise became her prison.  Something had to be done to help poor Eleanora escape under her own power.  I mentioned it to Son this morning and he set about making a "path" for Eleanora.  Knowing she could not navigate the gravel, he began looking for another possible exit.  Puddle Pond is edged on the back side with huge pieces of driftwood and old pilings so that became her path.  He slightly moved things about a bit to make her a "private" entrance into the garden beneath the blueberry trees.  

 Eleanora caught on quickly and was soon to be seen basking on the edge of the path.  She is also extremely happy to find that some fat earthworms had been uncovered when Son moved the pilings.  (At this rate, Eleanora is going to get fat!)  This evening, Eleanora is nestled down in a nook near the driftwood.  She is happy...I am happy.  All is well in Puddle Pond.