But first we had to move a turtle

I was working away from the house yesterday (and by working I mean writing job applications), and I called home around lunchtime to see how things were going. I figured they would be finishing up lunch, maybe reading a book before Shira's nap, or even watching Cinderella for the tenth time this week (it's due back at the library tomorrow, so you can't blame a girl for cramming in an extra viewing or six). But no, they were trying to figure out how a large turtle ended up in our fenced in backyard.

He wasn't a small turtle, this one. And no matter what they did, all he wanted to do was climb into our house. Unfortunately for him, turtles aren't the best stair climbers, and so he ended up on his back more than once, or just pacing back and forth along the edge of our house. Is there anything more pathetic? He was frantic, poor turtle. I could hear Alyce in the background informing Matt that she could touch the turtle and not to worry. I could also here Shira shrieking with excitement. It's not everyday you discover a turtle. Usually we just find cats.

Matt did the logical thing: he turned to google for help. The internet told him to either just leave it alone or take it to a stream somewhere. But there were a couple of problems: I wasn't keen on sharing our backyard with a turtle and our overly eager children (no offence, turtle), and we also worried that maybe this mystery turtle was someone's beloved pet. Maybe that's why he seemed so concerned with getting inside our house, you know, because he was accustomed to HBO and a jacuzzi tub. What to do? And yes, I actually considered posting signs in the neighbourhood. And this is how we have three cats, because we are suckers for an animal face.

In the end we decided to take Mr. Turtle (as I was calling him) to the park down the road. Matt was just getting a box when I spotted our neighbour, a young girl, playing in the street. Long story short (not really), Mr. Turtle was actually Squirtle the Turtle, and had escaped from her backyard. The upside? They are now reunited. The downside? She just keeps him in a kiddie pool in her backyard, so chances are good that he will show up in our backyard again soon. These neighbours are not the most considerate (and did I ever just hold myself back with that word choice), and I'm annoyed that they aren't looking after their pets, but at the end of the day I'm happy to reunite a girl and her turtle.