What My Turtle Taught Me

     Every spring my turtle Ned was a walking billboard about a mystery much bigger than that little guy in a shell. In the fall he’d disappear in the backyard, and throughout the snowy Colorado winter, I’d wonder, “Is Ned dead?”     
     Then when robins returned, Ned would struggle out from the vinca vines, his head covered with clods of dirt, like someone escaping the grave. This reminded me of something more remarkable than hibernation - the death, entombment, and coming back to lif...