June 7,2011 Turtle laying eggs

I don't go to DC after all. I will be going to LA. This came via email yesterday. Our "brief, yet intense orientation" will be there, and "you will be expected to act and dress in keeping with your status as a professional and guest. At staging, business casual attire is required." So now I'm looking for a dress.
Meanwhile, our one week allotment of spring is, apparently, expired, and now we are in sweltering summer. I'm not complaining, mind you, just noting!
Yesterday evening I was out in my back yard and my neighbor, Jenna, and her little ones, Zacky and Christa, came over to visit and Zacky yelled for us to come see the turtle in my garden. We have a lot of turtles, but he wanted us to see this one, "It's in a hole!", he said. Sure enough, the 6" turtle had backed itself into a hole about 6" deep and just about right to hold a bottle of water. We got to watch as Mama Turtle deposited an egg! Then, as we sat there with the children, she plopped out one after the other, about 30 seconds apart, until she had laid 8!! What a thrill! Wild America right in my yard! We wanted to see her push the dirt over the hole, but she scurried away as soon as she laid the last. I've never seen a turtle move that fast. I'd want to hide, too, if a little crowd watched me and narrated my giving birth.