I composed “ Sheldon Sleeps in the Sun” after my visit to Lake Griffey in February 2023 as my involvement with the environmental education and music initiative Conserve Bloomington. My job was simple: I was to compose something inspired by or related to what I witnessed during my visit. During my visit, I was mesmerized by this turtle who, even in cold Indiana, couldn’t be more at peace than he was sitting on a log. It made me so happy to see this turtle so content in his outdoor home. I thought more about this fella. I named him Sheldon and made up details about his life, such as his best friend, a water strider named Gordon, his proudest accomplishment, having graduated top of his class at University of Shellcago, and even his secret love for The Food  Network. While it was fun to create this backstory, I intentionally chose to refer to him as Sheldon to make people more interested in preserving his home. Personalizing a turtle may be a more subtle form of environmental activism, but my intention is to encourage people to see value in animals beyond ourselves.