TSA Workers Panicked by Keychain at Reagan National and More Terrapin Updates

My husband almost never travels, therefore when he does, exciting events transpire such as the loss of a rather large terrapin in our home.

Below you see the exact spot where the terrapin was finally found, a mere 18 hours after he “went missing.”

Note the joyful facial expression:

Here you see him tempted by the wilted lettuce Edward had scattered about the home in hopes of sustaining the creature through the night:

And here the sweet taste of freedom as the dear terrapin is reluctantly released into the wild of our yard:

Lest you think that the good times only occur in our actual home, let me share a recent tale that occurred while H was traveling last week.

He was only in DC for one night so he didn’t have a gracious amount of time for souvenir-seeking, yet he spotted a Smithsonian Institute kiosk in the airport, and carefully chose crystal grow-kits for Sue and Edward, a nifty gyroscope for Joseph, and rather striking key chain for me that flashes my name every second or so.  He popped it all in the Smithsonian bag and headed for the gate.

He hurried through the scanning machine and began putting on his shoes.  His belongings, however, remained in the scanning area.  All of a sudden the scenario turned a bit frantic when a TSA worker shouted,

“Come here!  I ain’t ever seen anything like this?  What’s that?”

Shoeless folk began slowly backing up from the scanning area.

“It look like it’s pulsing!”

Several TSA workers are summoned, the conveyor built is abruptly halted, and H’s Smithsonian Institution bag is carefully prodded by a professional probe that H said looked remarkably like a car antenna.

I suppose the juxtaposition of the gyroscope next to the flashing keychain proved menacing to say the least.

Almost immediately the situation eased when the TSA professional drew her probe away from the bag and said with a loud, relieved laugh, “Awww!  That ain’t nothin’ but a solar key chain!”

Crisis averted!