Well, he *did* try...

This afternoon while watching CNN Headline News, I saw a touching story about a couple who recently got engaged on the beach.

Everybody say it with me… “Awwww…so sweet!”

The groom to be, hereafter known as “Mr. Romance” had arranged to propose to his girlfriend on the beach, amidst about 150 lit lumanarias in the shape of a heart… you know, to set the mood. (and if you don’t know what a luminaria is, you clearly have never been in Salado, Texas during the Christmas Stroll. Basically, it’s a white paper sack with sand and a lit candle in it.)

Romantic, right?

And it *would* have been romantic… if the beach hadn’t been an area on Hilton Head Island that houses federally protected loggerhead turtle nests.

You see, sea turtle hatchlings have an inborn tendency to move in the brightest direction once they hatch. On a natural beach, the brightest direction is most often the open view of the ocean, but they will follow any light they see.

“It was probably a combination of the luminarias and the reflection of the moon on the white bags after the candles were extinguished that disoriented the hatchlings,” one of the volunteers for the Sea Turtle Project said.

The volunteers found tiny tracks heading in all directions except toward the ocean. Some tracks repeatedly encircled the luminarias where the hatchlings succumbed either to weakness or crabs. Others headed into the sand dunes, nearby lagoons and backyards. Now I have never pretended to be much of a nature lover... I'd just as soon squish a bug as look at it, but even I know... that sucks, big time. P.S. baby turtles are waaaaay cuter than bugs, anyway.

So when ‘Mr. Romance’ set this in motion, he wasn’t aware that he would, in effect, be committing mass turtle-cide. Approximately 60 turtle hatchlings were killed in the name of love.

According to the news report, the couple still was celebrating their engagement when the distraught patrol volunteers rolled up.

“The people were regretful,” a spokesperson said. “They'd just gotten engaged and were bombarded with a lot of people yelling at them.” The couple received a warning from the town and a lecture from furious sea turtle volunteers.

Now I ask you… wouldn’t you consider this a pretty bad omen for your wedding?