Tartarughe Piccole ~ Little Turtles

bill the turtle
Originally uploaded by sevenworlds16

Aaron had several of these miniature turtles as pets during the years we lived in Italy. He also had hamsters as pets. It was always a challenge when we would spend a summer in the U.S. (every three years or so) because we would have to find 'pet sitters'.

The mini turtles had a nice home in the bidet of one of our four bathrooms. Just prior to one trip back to the U.S. I found that one of the turtles had passed away and did not know what do do with him/her (do turtles have a sex?). Anyway, I made the decision, as we were to leave soon for our trip, to bring the turtle to a nearby stream, on a street called Via Cantarana (street of the singing frogs). And I informed Aaron that evening when we were praying before bed that his turtle had gone to turtle heaven, i.e., the stream on Via Catarana. Unfortunately, I did not know that in his elementary school class, they had been learning about pollution, and the teacher had told the children that there was industrial waste in the stream on that very street.

I had told Aaron that I thought the little turtle would be happy in Frog Heaven, as they would sing to him. Talk about having to think on your feet ~ whew! I also told him that his turtle would probably become a full-fledged Ninja Turtle ~ that was the popular TV show for kids even in Italy during that time. Our son was thrilled. Don't know if he told the teacher and his classmates about his Ninja Turtle when we came back from the U.S. Hopefully, he forgot about it.