Of turtles and anniversaries

It’s 9:36 pm

Just got home about 30 minutes ago….went for a walk and then cooled down by driving a bit before heading home.

So a week ago last Friday my friend Susan and I had made plans to see “Wonder Woman”.  We were meeting her friend and fellow journalist Helene at a local theater. We have been walking every Friday the past three weeks and we didn’t want to break our routine so I suggested we walk the Flodin Park nature loop,a .33 mile triangle that is part of the huge Canton trail system.

We had walked the loop last summer but it was night,we had walked it by the light of Susan’s cellphone. I had walked it a few times myself and with Lori. My first time solo I had walked,I passed by a woman with three dogs including a pit bull. All the dogs had growled at me and she only because she had wrapped their leashes around her arm that they hadn’t gotten loose.
After that I walked there with a walking stick made of steel and later on,bear spray. I still walk there with that bear spray on my pocket.

But I still enjoy the loop quite a bit,lots of birds and insects are always around and the chirps,quacks and buzzing makes for a nice little walk.
As Susan and I started crossing the little bridge leading to the trail,we saw the turtle above. Now because the only turtle I had seen in Michigan has been a snapping turtle,I decided to treat this turtle as such. I knew it was wasn’t because of its shell but why take chances,right?
Susan took the picture and I felt the shell….it felt leathery but also a bit dry. When I picked it up,it had its right rear leg stuck in a hole. We didn’t know what to do other then put it in some swamp grass by the trail. We would walk a loop and if the turtle was still there when we came back,we would try and get it to the water. The loop surrounds two small ponds but has no trails to those ponds.

It was hot and humid as we quickly walked our loop. When we got back to the spot where the turtle had been,it was gone. Susan spotted it as it was headed towards one of the ponds. I filled up the hole on the trail and off we went.
After I got home,I looked up our turtle and found an a page on the DNR  on the animals of Michigan. It was there that I found out that we had rescued a Eastern Spiny Softshell turtle. It was a very gentle creature unless provoked and sadly like so many animals/reptiles,is slowly fading away due to habitat loss and invasive species that kill either the turtle or their eggs.
When you watch the video,you can see just how fast a spiny softshell turtle can move. But being stuck in a hole on a very hot day most likely took the starch out our little turtle.
As we walked there were more people hitting the trail as the weather got a bit cooler. One man walked by with an just incredible Akita…but we left before we saw them again.
We went to the Canton Goodrich Theaters to watch “Wonder Woman”. Helene met us there about 30 minutes after we got there,I hadn’t been at this theater since seeing a old Eliza Dushku movie called “Soul Survivors” waaaaay back in 2001.

We all really enjoyed Wonder Woman and quite honestly,I felt this was Chris Pine’s finest performance as Steve Trevor. Patty Jenkins has directed a wonder origin movie and really brought out some excellent work from some unexpected places…beside Pine’s Trevor,I really thought casting Robin Wright as Antiope was very inspired. This was the best non Batman DC movie since the first Superman movie back in 1978.
It does give one hope for the new Justice League film….not enough for me to watch it but that Aqua Man solo adventure might be worth checking out….

In my last personal entry, Thoughts on the Trail….  I wrote about Chewy,a online pet supply company with a heart. When I’m on Twitter,I’m a ReTweet/Like fool. I like pushing good people or good companies….because they need the support too,right?
I ask for support for the blog and I believe in doing the same in supporting companies like Chewy

.
So when I supported a dog food post for Chewy,it was just for that…support. Well you can imagine how surprised I was when I found out that Paladin had won a goody box from Chewy. I was asked for some info and this week,we got our package….a mega bag of Temptation treats and a brand new cat tree from Frisco. The cat tree is too small for Paladin so he asked me to donate it to Huron Valley Humane Society who took him in and took great care of him until he found me.

I think that is a good idea and so tomorrow,on Lori and my 13th wedding anniversary,I’m driving to Dixboro to donate that cat tree so some very deserving cats can have something to climb on while waiting for their new furever homes.
This is the second time that the cheetah has won a goody box….long time readers may remember that Paladin won a prize box from Pop Secret. We ended up getting boxes of popcorn and a BluRay film. Cheetahs are lucky…..or at least mine is.

This past Friday,Susan couldn’t make our walk so it was a solo adventure for me. I decided to push myself and do 2 miles this time. I went to Flodin Park,who knows,maybe I might run into another turtle. No turtle this time but I did see that amazing Akita again with her owner. As we crossed paths,I learned her name was Mia and that she was her owner’s personal trainer. Funny,you would think that a cheetah would make a great trainer and when I brought this up to Paladin,he yawned and purred loudly before going back to sleep. Think he is trying to tell me something???

As I mentioned,tomorrow is Lori and my 13th wedding anniversary. I miss Lori more then life and this year has been very hard for me. I think our day,our happy day and I can see how radiant Lori looked. There has never been a more beautiful bride and I still consider myself the most blessed man to have been chosen to share a life such a lovely soul.
To have done so much in such a short time….we packed a lot of fun and adventure in our marriage…I wish we could have traveled a bit more,Lori was always a bit more of a explorer then I am. But there were places I wish we could have seen together. But I know we do that soon enough and I really can’t wait to see what is on the other side.

Well,I’m wrapping this up so I can post in time for tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to read it this far.

 

Shout outs

Happy Father’s day to all you pops out there
Donald and Melinda- Have a most joyous day on the 24th.
Talia Jane – Respect is earned,never given and certainly not given to someone who
makes a joke about gun violence. Bruce was wrong.
Io – So glad you are still walking and doing so well! We miss the blog but will read your book!
Rio – I completely understand and will look forward to when you can do a interview.
Chewy.com (Doug) – Thank you again for the treats,Paladin will be sending a picture shortly.
Susan – Thanks for helping with that live rescue. Cats,dogs,cheetahs and now turtles? What is next?
Helene- Hope we didn’t talk too much shop!
Romey- You should hold JBL’s hat for ransom!
Bobby LaPire- You think Tara Subkoff owes us 91 minutes of our lives back?
Nadia Rose – Thank you for such a great interview!