Ray and the Turtle

Last weekend, besides having fun in the sun at the pool, Ray had his usual tromp around the lake. This has become pretty routine in the life of the blind dog, mainly because it is a good distance (2.5 miles), jut enough to wear Ray out for most of the day (at least in the summer months). There are also variations of this walk that we can do. We can walk to the lake, half-way-round, then back home by a different route. Or walk to the lake and half-way-round going in the opposite direction, then back. There are approximately six different versions of that walk since the lake can be accessed by six different streets in the 'hood.

But I digress. This last weekend, Ray met a box turtle. It was sitting in the middle of the path minding its own business when we came upon it. Ray was the first on the scene and tripped over the bump in the road. He would have continued on but for the fact that we stopped him. I tapped on the shell of the turtle to attract the dog's attention. Ray came in for a sniff, then, in the international display of disgusted animal, jumped back about a foot or two, flinging his head back as if he'd been stung. He sidled up to the turtle again for another sniff. Again, his head shot back as he sprang away. The scene repeated until Ray decided he'd had enough. He backed away, turned to head up the path, then got a whiff of his own foot, the one that had tripped over the turtle. Repelled and fascinated at the same time, Ray 'looked' at his foot, totally grossed out and perplexed as to what to do. He tried backing up a bit but couldn't get away from it, so he did what any sane dog would do, he tried to out-jog it. And when we reached the car and Ray had to inhabit a space with his own foot, he hung his head out the car window.

I was minding my own business, just walking along...

...when I tripped over this THING.

I didn't know what it was, so I smelled it.

And I gotta tell ya, it was DISGUSTING.

So, of course, I smelled it again.

It was even MORE disgusting.

On the way home, I tried to get the smell out of my head...

...but no matter which window I used, I could still smell that thing.
Gross.