Turtle Soup

There was a torrential downpour the other day. Then after the brief cloud cover the sun was back out and blazing down. It was so hot, and steamy outside. It was time for a dip in the pool. M made a beeline for the pool as soon as he came in the door from work, and before I could make it outside he yelled for the camera. I grabbed it on the way out the back door and headed for the pool. As I approached, M was playing with something in the water. It was a scared little turtle who had been stuck in the filter. He was making turtle soup in our pool! M the life guard headed him in the direction of the stairs and he started up the to the first one. The turtle took a small rest before attempting to exit the pool. We gave him a boost, and he "ran" as fast as a turtle can run into the shade of the decorative grass. Time to let his shell dry out, and no doubt rest a little. It probably was a lot of work to swim against the filter. We don't know how long he was in there, but we were glad to save him. Now I check the filter before I get in the pool, just to see if there are any critters that need help escaping.