The Not So Molly Mormon Installment 2

November 19, 2012 A day in the life of a Not So Molly Mormon- Installment 2 Growing up, I always had an overly developed affection for the turtles crawling around in the deep woods of our rural Arkansas home. My Dad would humor me on the not so off chance that we would see one "stranded" and would pull over on the side of the road to allow me to jump out and "save" it, prompting the poor little creature to suck all appendages back into it's shell, no doubt wishing it hadn't bothered venture out that morning. I would take the turtle, bond with it for the afternoon, tearfully take it to the special spot on the woods I had designated as my turtle release spot, and watch it crawl slowly off into the sunset, occasionally missing it so much I would walk the six feet it had gotten in five minutes and take it back to the beginning so I could say goodbye to it all over again. Sometimes my big brothers Golden Retriever, Lucky, would gleefully come upon us and take the unsuspecting turtle for another slobbery spin across our five acre yard, usually with me running behind him trying to wrestle it out from between his teeth. Needless to say, the term "rescue" could be used loosely. I've grown up, moved away and live in a neighborhood with a pretty slim turtle population these days, but old attachments die hard and my attempts at heroism have never quite dampened. I have an adoring husband of my own now who's eyelid twitches when I ask him to pull the car around, and four little angels who terrify the living daylights out of me sometimes, let alone any poor unsuspecting creature who is unfortunate enough to be pulled into the vehicle with them. My second to youngest daughter, Hadley, has never seen a turtle close up that she can remember though, so when I saw one onthe side of the road about a quarter of a mile after pulling out of my parents driveway I was excited to broaden her horizons and yes, was a bit caught up in the spoils of my childhood as I found an old gravel driveway, backed out and took my Mother and kids for a short detour back in the turtle's direction. The chase was afoot. We would have to be fast this time because if the turtle moved into the brush we would loose our ability to call it a rescue and would be moving dangerously close to wildlife endangerment. I slowed to a crawl, letting the minivan idle next to the turtle as we all peered over the dashboard, a little bit of wonder, not just in my eyes, but in the eyes of my mother and children. My Mom was the first to look concerned, when it slowly dawned on me that, this time, my dreams of sharing the joys of childhood with posterity might not happen just as I'd hoped. There on a side of the road, in a perfect pile of turtle-esk likeness was a large spiral cone of animal turd. Maybe dog, quite possibly even raccoon... It mocked me, as somewhere from the backseat my daughter asked, "When can I old de tuttle Mommy?" Trying to control our giggles... I replied, "Not today, sweetiepie... Not today."