Fare Thee Well, Flashlight Bali! Farewell, Dear Tiffany!!

A few days ago Geof and I discovered a box turtle making it's way across our road. We picked it up and made it a nice little home out of a galvanized bucket filled with dirt, leaves, and rocks and set it on our porch. We fed her lettuce from the garden, some left over fruit salad (peaches were her favorite), and water. We learned through online research that she was in fact a she because her eyes looked like this...

and not like this...


We asked Geof what her name should be and after a little thinking he came up with Flashlight Bali, and so it was. Today we took Flashlight Bali to the park and let her go free near the river....safely away from our precious tomato plants and other garden goodies.

Tomorrow we'll go to the library, if we have time, to learn more about turtles...and sadly, death. Fear not, Flashlight Bali left the shoebox in which we carried her to the park of her own power and we watched as she found her way through the grass and disappeared. My Mom's dog had to be put down yesterday, however. Tiffany was 12 years old, deaf and going blind. My Mom is taking it fairly hard, hell, even my Dad teared up and he and the dog never got along. Mom said she feels foolish for crying over a dog, but Tiffany had been a part of her life every day for the past 12 years. I keep telling my Mom that she did the right thing, but grieving takes time, even for a canine.