She Knows

   For a number of years now, a small box turtle has been living around the place.  She mainly stays in the cooling shade under the shed near Bat, the cat, or slides down into the Frog Pond to catch tadpoles.  The turtle never ventures far from the backdoor which is just a few feet from both the shed and pond.  Knowing that these turtles never roam far, one expects this but I tend to think there is another reason this particular turtle remains nearby.  This all started years ago and involves Son who has such a wonderfully kind heart.  One day while he was actually working on some repairs on the shed, he found the box turtle stuck between the shed deck and a roll of fencing.  She could not budge so he freed her and then "hinted" that perhaps she was hungry.  I fetched some apple that he hand-fed to her.  Later the turtle happily went on its way and we figured that would be that.  We were wrong.  The turtle came back for more handouts and still, to this day, knows we will ply her with a meal.

  I went on to eventually name our sweet critter friend.  The name came from an elderly lady who fed the turtles when I was a child.  Ms. Virginia had dozens of turtles that came to her doorstep for food.  I was there several times and was allowed to "help" her feed her turtle friends.  The memory begged for me to name our turtle after that sweet lady of so long ago.  Virginia, the turtle, is now a longtime resident "pet" of ours.  She comes daily to receive treats and even has a delightful way of letting you know she is hungry.  Once the turtle spies one of us, she ambles over and raises her left front foot as a sign that she is ready to eat.  It works like a charm!  Virginia will always be treated like a queen here!

  Today was no different. Virginia came out from beneath the shed as soon as she saw Son going down the back steps.  She scurried (if a turtle can scurry) up to him, looked longingly into his eyes and raised that left front foot.  His heart melted...I darted inside to get a snack of watermelon...Virginia was happy.  Folks, be kind to all creatures.  Friends come in all shapes and sizes.