A Middle School Obsession

When I was younger, the middle school years, I was OBSESSED with turtles. All my friends had favorite animals and because I am allergic to every animal out there that is sporting fur, turtles seemed like a logical choice for my “favorite.” Between the stuffed animals, figurines, posters and t-shirts, I had close to a hundred turtle things. I was fascinated with the Galapagos Islands and the tortoises there – actually I still am! I wrote my term paper for biology class on tortoises; I got an A of course! One Christmas JQ gave me (with permission from my mom of course) my first pet. Willy was my very own red-eared slider turtle. Before dying of anorexia a few years later (seriously – I think he was depressed and he stopped eating) I learned a few things:

Turtles, and their tanks, smell. It is this God-awful stink that can permeate through the entire house if you don’t clean the tank often enough (I didn’t).

Turtles can be awfully quick! I turned my back for a minute once and I had to search for a good hour to find Willy.

Turtles really weren’t that much fun to play with. You can’t cuddle up to one, or take a turtle to the park.

My obsession with turtles began to fade right around the time of Willy’s death. If I remember correctly, that was about the same time that my obsession with boys began.

(The picture above is one my coworker took while “working” down in Mexico on a pier inspection. I’ve never had any inclination to join the company dive team, but this does make it look tempting!)