From Bennett Haeberle and WDRB-TV, in Louisville, Kentucky (via CNN): "Spike, a 32 pound African tortoise, started off as a pet at Louisville's Wayside Christian Mission, but his caretaker says he has grown to so much more than that":

I was especially touched by Spike's role in William Duncan's life, a recovering alcoholic whose homelessness brought him to the Mission: "A recovery program got him clean.  Spike, he says, keeps him going. / 'Spike inspires me everyday to keep taking care of him.'"

The reporter concludes that Spike is "an urban turtle with a purpose beyond his shell."  What a cool and faithful way to look at every animal God brings into our lives, into our world period.

On another turtle-themed note, back on April 5th, the Chicago Tribune had a great article about "Turtle Crossing" signs which were put up along a traffic-heavy four-lane highway in suburban Chicago.  The road divides the "rare and soon-to-be-declared endangered" turtles' marshy home from their nesting ground:

The turtles prefer laying their eggs on dry ground up to a mile away from water, and their homing instinct tells them to return to their birth area to build their nests. / Before development, it was an easy trip.  Now, strip malls, subdivisions and roads can make it deadly, which is one reason officials said they will soon be elevated to the state’s endangered species list.

And last on our programs but not in our hearts, my good friend Lisa had a charming post a few years back about our mutual friend and very talented photographer Lisa Beth Anderson who rescued (and adopted) a turtle from a likely quick end on a Chicago street:

Traffic the turtle was saved (from traffic) by my friend Lisa when she was picking up a friend's daughter, Alethea, from her first day of kindergarten.  And as Alethea watched Traffic peeking out at Lisa, she said soberly, "That turtle is in love with you.  He thinks you're a princess because you saved him."