Story Hour
Gordie's Fathers Day
Written by Gene B. Williams
|
Click here for the archive page with a list of previous stories. Please remember that all materials on this website are copyrighted. No reproduction without express permission. |
Father’s Day in Arizona can be very hot, and it was. That’s why I waited until the sun was going down to light the barbeque grill.
Do you know what shish-kebab is? (There are several ways to spell it, and even more ways to make it.) Almost every Father’s Day, this is what we eat.
“Kebab” means “cooked, charred meat.” Originally, in Persian, it meant fried, but there are many kababs that are stews.
“Shish” means “skewer.” That means you’re putting food on a sharpened stick of some sort to cook it.
I have a story to tell, so if you want to learn more about the shish-kebab I was cooking that day, just click here and visit Lunch With Nicker so we can get on with the story. Okay?
Well!
There I was at the grill. It was just beginning to get dark. (It’s called “dusk.”)
My wife (Danny’s mother, but we won’t talk about her just now because this is FATHER’S Day, and MOTHER’S Day was last month) pointed to the fence and asked, “What’s THAT?”
It must have been an alien. You know, something from another planet. It looked like half of a basketball. That would have been okay, but this basketball was moving. As you might know, basketballs almost never walk, even when half the air is gone.
But there it was, and how can you argue with that?
The sun was going down. The grill was getting hot for shish-kebab. And half of a basketball was walking along the back fence.
Being a brave father, I went to look. To investigate. The basketball had a head, and it had legs with big spikes on them. It was a tortoise. A BIG tortoise. A FAST tortoise – and he was still being fast.
I’ve had dogs, cats, and horses. I’ve had two snakes and used to breed fish. I’ve had three tortoises and two turtles. This one was different. Mostly, he was bigger and faster. (Hey, didn’t I just say that? Let’s look back. YES. I already said that.)
There is a law in Arizona that says you can’t touch a desert tortoise. It’s a strange law, though, because you also can’t let a desert tortoise get in danger. So, if you see a desert tortoise about to walk off a cliff … if you pick it up so doesn’t walk off the cliff, you broke the law. But, if you don’t pick it up, you broke the law.
I decided to break the law, instead of breaking the law. I picked it up to bring it into the yard. At least it would be safe. Inside a fenced yard, it wasn’t going to crawl out onto the highway … or something.
The dogs weren’t sure about this new creature.
Mabel (she’s a boxer … really!) took a few sniffs, said, “What’s the big deal. It’s just a tortoise,” then ran off to chase Sophie the cat.
Gus sniffed the front. Then he sniffed the back. Then he sniffed the sides. Then he and the tortoise sniffed each other. Both looked at me and asked, “What’s kind of creature is this?”
They would soon learn – and so would I.
Remember, it was Father’s Day. I named him Gordie, after my father. (Oddly enough, Nicker’s father is Simon, and Simon’s father is also named Gordie.) This Gordie is a sulcata tortoise. They are native to the Sahara Desert in Africa. When Gordie came here, he weighed 17 pounds. Now he weighs 40 pounds and could easily grow to 150 pounds. (How much do you weigh?)
You can read more about Gordie the Social Tortie here.
He has grown a bit since then, and has had a few more adventures.
Gordie the Tortie still loves grapes. So does Gus. (He’s the bigger dog.) Mabel (she’s the little brown boxer dog) likes them, but mostly because she sees Gordie and Gus like them and she wants some for herself because they want some.
All the animals get along just fine. In fact, Gordie is very good at hiding. And Gus has a very sensitive nose. If I can’t find Gordie, I can tell Gus, “Go find Gordie,” and he will. Even if it’s raining, Gus can sniff where Gordie has been most recently. Even though Gordie has been all over the yard, Gus can tell the difference. He ignores where Gordie was yesterday, or even an hour ago, and sniff his way to where Gordie is NOW!
It’s fun to watch, but it isn’t the story I want to tell you.
Gus and Gordie get along just fine – most of the time. When it comes to grapes, they get jealous.
Now … I have to tell you something else about the sulcata tortoise, so put that picture of Gordie and Gus, nose to nose, in your mind for now and listen to this.
Gordie can tuck himself up inside his shell. Maybe you have seen another turtle or tortoise do this. With a tortoise like Gordie, when he’s inside that’s pretty much it. An animal looking for a meal is out of luck.
When this happens with a sulcata, like Gordie, something unusual happens. They tuck in fast. When they do, there is air inside. It comes out fast. When it does, there is a very loud "hisssss". You’d have to hear it yourself to understand, so leave it at this. I know Gordie, and Gordie knows me. When he tucks in fast, I know what he is doing, and I know what is making that ferocious sound.
I still jump!
Oh, my, it’s a terrible sound. If you don’t get clear, you’re going to DIE! It doesn’t matter that you know you won’t even be hurt. That sound will send you running. It’s SCARY!!!
On this day, I went out with a handful of grapes. I put some down for Gordie.
Gus came to sniff and maybe get one.
Keep in mind, Gordie is not afraid of Gus. Even so, he went back into his shell and out came that horrible hiss!
Gus is not afraid of Gordie, but he jumped three feet straight up in the air and when he came down made quite a cloud of dirt and grass to get away.
Gordie put his head out again to get a grape.
Gus wasn’t so sure, but Gordie was very calm as he gobbled that grape. So, Gus came closer again.
When he did, Gordie tucked back into his shell … and Gus was up in the air again after that terrifying sound.
Remember what I told you. I know that Gordie isn’t going to hurt me, and I jump. Gus knows that Gordie won’t hurt him, and he jumped. We both feel silly, but we can’t help it. To Gus, though, he felt so silly that he got angry.
And, oh, did he let Gordie know that he was angry. He did this by barking loud … from 10 feet away.
Gordie ignored this and just kept eating his grapes.
That made Gus even more angry. He barked even louder and came in closer.
Gordie tucked just a little way into his shell. The hiss was soft. But it was enough, and Gus had had enough. He looked at me and asked, “Can I have some grapes somewhere else? Away from this walking, hissing basketball with legs?”
For this Father’s Day, Gordie dug a huge cave under the back fence. Would you like to come help me shovel all that dirt back into it?
PLEASE!
Like this story?
Click here to see previous stories!
