On my long drive to Fort Hood yesterday, I was of course assaulted by the variety of roadkill omnipresent on Texas's highways. I had cringe-worthy near misses with birds, mostly of the scavenger variety as they left their sun-baked feasts just in the nick of time. I recall thinking, "Fucking bird!" and wondered if he must have thought, "Fucking car!"
I saw a turtle, a fairly large one, maybe the size of my head. He was in my lane traveling right to left across the road. It sounds like a joke, "Why did the turtle cross the road?" but his motive isn't the point. For whatever reason it was, this was his chosen path. The fact that he could only travel his body length in just under five minutes did not deter him from heading out across a two-lane concrete death trap.
It flashed into my mind to stop, pick him up and decide for him which side of the road to be on, but that sort of action didn't feel right to me. If he was going to cross that road, he was going to do it under his own power. I winced slightly when I saw the line of traffic heading towards me, and consequently him, as he scuttled towards the dividing line into its path.
And I thought of him on my drive back home yesterday evening. I saw no trace of him and hope that his determination (and a kind God) saw him safely across. I did see something I hadn't expected though.
In my lane, traveling left to right across the road, was a turtle, a fairly large one, maybe the size of my head...