Some deer and a box turtle

Ah, so now I have the "retired, no clue what day of the week it is?" syndrome.

Yesterday afternoon I paddled with Deke, out of Fountainhead. The water was silky smooth. We made good time in spite of our chatter. The leaves are starting to turn and the Marina locks up at 7 pm now. We had a deadline and paddled 7.10 miles in 1 hour 51 minutes. Not bad time. After loading and saying our goodbyes, we were on our way by 6:30. Not bad.

As I drove home in the gathering gloom I stopped to let some deer hop across the road in front of me. When I first started slowing the car behind me, quite some distance behind me, lunged forward and gave a short sharp toot of their horn. Then the deer stepped out. Does one suppose, as I did, that the fellow behind me in such a hurry would have just blown past the deer? Or maybe he would have received one as a hood ornament? Slow down, dude, slow down. Wild life should get the right-of-way.

This morning I made my first morning yoga class at the studio. I am driving home in the afterglow of Vinyasa Yoga (otherwise know as "torture by yoga") and what do I spy on the quiet neighborhood street in front of me? Ah, nice, this mid-sized lady box turtle.
















For the first time ever, I can not for the life of me, find the lock on my car door. I am safely pulled over onto the wide suburban shoulder and I can't get out of my ****ing door. I am freaking out as this scowling mom in a minivan rushes towards me, and I am clawing at the door like a trapped cat. Damn, door pops open and I tumble into the street, making frantic eye contact with "mom," causing her scowl to deepen as she looks from me to the turtle in her lane. I literally cringe as she drives over it, imagining the worst. She misses the turtle, who now realizes she is in a pack of trouble and tries to hie back.

Nu uh. I am not having any of that. I had once read that the proper thing to do with a turtle is to move them to the side of the street they were heading for in the first place. So now I am going to dive on this turtle and another car, a Subaru, is speeding towards me. I put up my hand "please stop, please" as I step into the lane. And he does. He stops and watches me scoop up the turtle. He shouts a hardy "thank you," out the window. Was it a thank you for getting out of his way or a thank you for saving the turtle? I am pretty sure it was turtle gratitude.

The turtle did not offer me any thanks herself. However, instead of turtling up in her shell, she immediately started up the grassy embankment. I had put her on the correct side of the road and she was now on her way.

What was it the Lorax said "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Thank you Dr Seuss.

One small turtle, one straggling fawn...is all that hurry worth it? Would 30 seconds really be the end of the world?