A friend e-mailed me yesterday. “You don’t write any. What is going on?”
I dunno. It’s summer. A lot of things going on at home, with Greg and I, injured box turtles, geckos, new house, and Frankie. Things!
I mean, it’s summer. Yeah, Frankie is busier than ever.
Yesterday I was working in the yard and I spy Greg just standing in the middle of the yard watching Frankie walk the fence line.
“What are you doing, Greg?”
“Watching Frankie get in trouble.”
I look back at Frankie who is just walking along the fence line.
“He is just walking, Greg.”
“If Frankie is walking Frankie is getting into trouble.”
I look back at Frankie at the end of the fence line. As if he was plainly blind Frankie bumps nose first into the corner fence. He shakes off hauling right into the fence, shimmies the corner and proceeds walking along the fence line.
I see Frankie do this walk-into-corner-bump-into-wall a lot. He just doesn’t get corners all that well. He just doesn’t get a lot of things that well.
Greg and I emptied our rented storage space. Twenty boxes, two vivariums, two bicycles, a dining room table and chairs, holiday decorations, turn table, lawn spreader, mirror, and a few miscellaneous bits were stuffed into our two vehicles and driven home as the last bit of evidence that we moved six months ago.
We decided it would be easiest to take everything through the back gate since it’s a quick 12 foot walk to the backdoor. Straight into the house.
Not taken into account is the path from car to house passes right through a territory belonging to a beast who can make a twelve foot path fraught with all kinds of dangers. Boxes in arm, we walk into the yard and head directly to the backdoor.
Frankie is quick to observe two potential food givers and made a beeline to the back door. When we came out of the house we are forced to hop over the big shelled obstacle. We dashed to the back gate with Frankie in hot pursuit.
And so began games of tag, leap frog, hopscotch, and tag with Greg and I passing back and forth from gate to door and Frankie looking a lot like Jackie Robinson playing rundown back and forth between first base and second base.
Except he isn’t as quick as Jackie Robinson.
You see, Frankie’s turn’s are awkward. He is like a big car attempting to turn around in a very narrow street: pull back, shift forward, one step, push back on back foot, slide front foot over, push back foot forward, step forward once, pull back, shift forward…..and so on.
Our trips to and fro cars and house continue. Stuck mid route is Frankie looking to tag the first human to pass in front of him. Just as he is turned …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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