The Hub is one of those "wishful thinkers". It's very easy for him to imagine things being better than they are, and he freely expresses whatever he imagines from the sublime to the ridiculous. So he often hears me say "If wishes were horses than beggers would ride." Sometimes he says that the other women he's been in relationships with used to say "Wish in one hand and s*** in the other one and see which fills up first." and that kind of expression about beggers and horses is somehow the reason why I am the record holder (12 years) for being in a relationship with him. Often though he just follows up by saying, "and I wish I had a horse too."

Which he does....

He's always thought it would be a good idea to have a horse, ever since we lived in the Fairyland House (the one that was probably haunted) and there were two horses that lived down the hill from us. Well, there were people there too, of course, it's just that the horses were more outgoing than the people, and also, they spent significantly more time out in the back pasture which bordered our lawn. The people never munched on the grass, either, but I hope that goes without saying, even out here in the County.

"We don't have any place to put a horse, you are a little nervous of them, you don't know how to ride and they're the only animal to which you're allergic" I point out.

But he just waves all this away. Details, details.

For myself, I'm not a big wisher. Being given to outlandish trains of thought to start with, I make a special effort to keep my mind on what's really happening. Moreover, I've only got three brain cells ( and it seems like most days two of them are busy fighting for control) so I try not to expend a lot of mental energy imagining how much better something could have gone, when I'm more likely to find a solution to the problem - it didn't go that way- by just sort of bypassing the Monday morning quarter-back thing.

Lately, however, I've been indulging in more wishses. Maybe it has to do with being sick. Maybe it has to do with being off work and not having to keep my mind on solving so many problems. Maybe it's just that I've gotten more sleep so I'm no longer afraid that if I get off on a train of thought I'll find myself dreaming with my eyes wide open and sometimes behind the wheel of a car.

On Wednesday I looked in the paper and saw that someone was giving away a box turtle "free, to a good home."

"Oh, look. Somebody's giving away a box turtle. I've always wanted a turtle. Do you suppose I could get a turtle?"

"Sure." says The Hub, because he knows that there is no way that I would ever get a box turtle without doing at least six months of research into the pros and cons of turtles as companion animals, the likelihood of a turtle fitting in with our lifestyle, the thoughts of various researchers on whether box turtles want to, in fact, be in a box, etc.

Thursday: "The turtle is still in the paper. I'd really like a turtle. They're so cute."

Saturday: (coming back from the Faerie Festival with Theresa) "I'm thinking of getting a box turtle. I've always wanted one."

So today I was getting ready to take the e-Bays up to the post office, the new stuff up to WAM and ride by the Exchange when I turned around and saw....You guessed it, a box turtle coming up the driveway toward me.

"Oh, hello." I said, as the turtle came closer. It stopped and looked at me and stood still. I went over to greet it then got down on my knees to talk to it, which was sort of time consuming, but still. There's no need to be rude, even to animals. "Are you traveling? Can I offer you any assistance?" I paused. No answer, because, of course, it was a turtle. But actually, sometimes you kind of CAN tell if you can be of some assistance to an animal. "Would you like a drink of water? No? Well, feel free to help yourself to some mint from the garden. Boy, you are a handsome fellow. Do you mind if I touch your shell?"

The turtle just stood there, maybe he was listening. Who knows? I reached out and touched his beautiful shell. I imagine he was a fairly young turtle, probably out looking for love. He drew his head back a little bit, but not much as I ran my fingers over the top of his shell. It didn't have any cracks or dings, and the turtles head was quite bright yellow in spots. "I have to go. Be careful to stay out of the road, okay?" I advised him. He headed off for the mint patch, and I headed back to my car.

I know that his arrival was just a coincidence, but still, it was a nice one. I hope Sir (or Madame) Turtle finds love, or a new home, or whatever he was looking for. It was awefully good of him to stop by.