17 MAY 26

“Turtle...” Oxbear nods at the crosswalk ahead...

Driving to church early that morning and the light is red... but not for the turtle... he’s hoofin’ it across the road like he knows exactly what’s going on and all traffic pauses even after the light turns green...

“That is the first turtle I’ve ever see cross at a crosswalk with the WALK sign on...” Oxbear notes...

“His name is PUCK!” Yali announces as the turtle seems to safely arrive at the other side and traffic continues...

A few minutes later we’re back in the church pew while Yali and Patience rock back and forward to see how much they can make it squeak before the pipe organ fires up for the service...

A few hours beyond that and Yali and Patience are screaming and laughing with cousins as they rocket around the backyard splash pad dumping buckets of water over each others’ heads and sometimes sloshing the supervising adults... a rolling wind and warm gold sun...

...while Carrie-Bri’s primary function is managing young “S” attempting to snack on the contents of the sandbox...

“Oh now he’s just eating whole handfuls!”

...as the kids continue to chase each other down and around what is now a muddy soup before everyone is washed down and dried off and bowls of popcorn are served with salt and butter in “Grandma’s” kitchen...