He's no Ninja! He's my hero.

Today I turned the corner onto a side street and saw a dinner plate-size, yellow-bellied turtle in my lane trying to cross the road. I stopped the car. Bill who has a bad back, achy knees, and uses a cane, said, "You are going to cause a wreck over a turtle," before he slid out, bent down, and plopped that big guy in tall grass far from the road. He's no teenager. He's no mutant. He's no Ninja, but my honey is MY HERO!

When I was small, baby turtles the size of quarters or half-dollar coins, could be purchased as pets from dime stores. Sales were discontuinued when it was discovered they carried samonella.

When my son was about eight, he rescued a box turtle from the country. We named it Speedy, because that critter could make it to the back gate in a flash. A few weeks later we returned it to the original spot. it never did its job anyway. We watched a water bug climb out of the sewer and over Speedy's shell.

Don't relocate turtles to new areas, even if you think their current location is odd (unless it is obviously hazardous, such as a busy parking lot). Moving them to an unfamiliar location can subject them to foreign diseases and parasites that they lack a natural immunity to, so that should be avoided.

A group of turtles is called a bale (ever seen a group piled on a log) or dole.

 

Tornadoes

This is three-year-old talkative Charlie. He is verbose, opinionated, informative, and a quick learner. He is spinning his brush, painting tornadoes and telling me everything he knows about them. 

Before he went down for a nap he said, "If you hear me say, 'OHHHHHH UHHHH' (big sigh) you'll know I'm up, okay?" He is a whirlwind of activity when he is awake. A cute little mini tornado.  

St. Louis and surrounding area experienced eight tornadoes Thursday, EF zeros and EF ones. Thankfully no death or major destruction. Damage to trees, cars, roofs. We are expecting a week of rain and storms. That is disappointing, as I had big plans for the boys.

Now, I'm expecting a lot of indoor activities next Tuesday and Thursday when Charlie and his year older brother, Alex, come for a visit. Life is filled with little disappointments. If we learn to handle the minor things we can be better prepared for the bigger ones. 

We had 91 degrees heat the other day. I put the boys in swim trunks.

"Where is the BIG pool? That little kiddie pool is too small." 

It served the purpose for water play and pouring. Making do is what we do.

Our neighbor invited the boys to swim in her son's and daughter-in-law's in-ground pool when she returns from vacation in two weeks. Excitement and disappointment all at once. 

The weather is too cool since the storms rolled through. But better weather will be here before we know it, and summer will be upon us. 

 

 

Moments in time

Grandkids growing up! Nicholas graduated last weekend and is destined for a good paying job starting next week. We are very proud of our instrumentation electrician.

Morgan graduated yesterday with a degree in psychology. She is destined for grad school and  pursuit of her masters in the fall. So proud of the hard work she put in these past years. Her last paper was on how music can be calming. She used Bill (her grampie) as a case study. She interviewed him on the phone and asked him to name 10 songs that had an effect on him growing up.

When he replied, "Tutti Fruiti," she laughed and thought he was joking. He named many other rock and roll songs which he loved to dance to over the years. He got so into it, he pulled the songs up on the internet and played each for her. He made her a tape of his old favorites from the 50's. 

This memorable moment made me smile, sniffle, wipe a tear, because the days are sometimes long, but the years have flown. Our knees are too bad for dancing, but we used to jitterbug all night long. The professor's comment was that music for Bill's generation represented social engagement and this generation has music at their fingertips and in their earpods. 

There were some memorable moments in Morgan's graduation ceremony. To begin with, the audience was asked to stand for the national anthem. Everyone stood. And waited. And waited. And waited. Technical difficulties... so we sang acapello. It was a moving experience. But not quite as moving as the older gentelman whose grandfather graduated in 1910, but his family had no record of it. Research proved he did indeed graduate from the college, and so the gentleman was presented with his grandfather's degree. He accepted it, turned to the audience and saluted. A memorable event, but not as memorable as what happened today.

Morgan's parents and brothers moved her out of her apartment and back home. She wanted to keep the fullsize bed she'd had while away, and advertised her single bed for sale. A buyer was coming at 4:00 p.m. to purchase it. So, her brothers sat it on the front lawn and pulled the moving truck in to the driveway. Nine of us helped unload the truck. Bill was the doorman. The young ones carried her belongings in. The house was filled with people coming and going.

Bill opened the door for a woman we did not know. (neighbor?) She greeted us and began walking around. Her husband followed. Asked if the barking dog would bite. We said no. He petted the dog. They began commenting about the furniture. Told the bed was outside, they said they didn't want a bed. 

"We stopped here because we saw an Estate Sale sign on the corner and figured this was the place."

We will laugh about this in years to come. "Grandpa let strangers in!" 

And so, a new chapter begins in the lives of grandson Nicholas and granddaughter Morgan.  We are thankful for family.    
 

Feeding the hungry

 I received news that moved me to tears. 

I contacted my first writing professor, 1979 (teacher appreciation week, you know) thanked him for a job well done, and sent him copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul books in which my stories are published. 

He said since I refused to accept payment from him, he has made a donation in my name to a worthy cause. Indirectly Chicken Soup for the Soul and I are responsible  for feeding Ukrainian people. 

No matter how small the effort, I can confirm one person can make a difference. 

I consider this HUGE. The monetary donation has been made in my name to World Central Kitchen. 

I am deeply touched by this gesture.