Turtle Walk

First let me assure all of you that I do know this photo is not of a turtle. Really. I drew it and painted it and I'm quite sure it's not a turtle. Still, he's cute and I really couldn't find a photo of a turtle. I know I've painted a few but they're I don't know where. I guess that means I need to paint a few more so I can get a few more photos.
None of that has anything to do with my story. I just wanted to reassure those who know me personally. I am blonde! But as I walked down the driveway, I saw a turtle walking with me. Really.
Our driveway is 1/4 of a mile long. It makes for a wonderful exercise path. I walked "to the road" and was returning to the house when I spied a companion. A rather large turtle. Of course, any turtle larger than a half-dollar coin is large to me. He wasn't walking in the grass (okay, weeds) that line the driveway. No. He was walking on the asphalt. With me. I'm not even sure he noticed me. He could have been ignoring me. I get that a lot.
I could see we were on a course for disaster. Or at least a rather unhappy event. There was no way three dogs could ignore a turtle in their midst. Uh-uh. Not going to happen. It was late in the day and I really didn't want the drama. So I waved to my father to come see. I know what he was thinking. "Another snake. I'm trying to finish mowing the grass and here I've got to stop and kill a snake. " Hey, it's not my fault I'm terrified of snakes. But it wasn't a snake. It was a turtle.
"Come look at this turtle," I called.
"What?"
"It's a turtle. Come look!" I watched as he hesitated. I'm sure he wanted to say no.
The turtle now understood their were humans present. He stopped, unsure of his path. My father walked toward him. I was slightly behind him. The turtle stood still. Did he think he would somehow become invisible if he didn't move?
"What do you want to do about the turtle," I asked.
"Nothing," he said.
"You just want to let him go. Sometimes you don't want to let them go. Didn't you say they eat the fish in the pond?" I was full of questions.
My father is very bright. "He's not in the pond," he said.
I rolled my eyes. "So you just want to let him go?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"What about the dogs?"
"Yeah. They won't like him."
"Maybe I'll get a stick and head him in another direction," I said.
"Okay," he said, and went back to his mowing.
I got a stick and returned to the turtle, who was brighter than I thought. He was attempting to find a new path all on his own. Except he'd gotten stuck in the fence. He was a little too wide to go through a square on a wire fence. It was comical. His little feet were scurrying along but that fellow wasn't going anywhere.
So I took my stick and helped him back out. Then I eased him down the driveway until we reached a place that was washed a little. I helped him under the fence. He promptly slid about three feet down an incline. I did mention the dirt had washed a little. Last time I saw that turtle he was hoofing it across the pasture. Toward the pond.