growing in the goo

I just was driving to the video store to return a DVD....because, let's face it, I didn't have anything else going on, and on a side street I came upon something a bit large in the middle of the road. As I driving up to it, I was thinking "Hmm. Can I go over this thing, or do I have to swerve?" My mom's car has a very low clearance, and the last thing I want to do is incite my parents' ire. So I reduced my speed (because I am nothing but a courteous and friendly driver, haha) and as I was coming upon it, my thoughts went as such:

"okay...keep going....you can totally make it over it....yeah...OH MY GOD IT'S A TURTLE!"

I stopped. Backed up. (there weren't any other cars on the road. for then, anyhow). I got out of the car, leaving it in the middle of the lane, blocking any other cars that might be coming down my side, and I walked up to the little guy.

I had scared the CRAP out of this turtle. The head and legs were nowhere to be seen. I think I had been .3312487 seconds from putting it into the big pond in the sky. I gingerly picked it up, and brought it across the street and gently placed it into the yard that I had stopped in front of.

Then I looked up, and realized that there was a red SUV patiently waiting behind my mom's car. I flightily yelled "sorry!" and waved. I was deliberating going up to their window and exclaiming "I SAVED A TURTLE!!!" but then I decided that that may be considered weird, and that they probably didn't care anyhow.

So, mission accomplished, I got in the car, and drove away. Looking in the rearview mirror, I then realized that the people in the red car lived in the house that now had a turtle in its yard. So uh, I guess they do care, since I had stopped my car in front of their house and deposited a turtle on their property.

While driving, I had been feeling useless and like a waste. Not killing the turtle caused me to examine things with a new focus and gave me a purpose that goes beyond who I am and what I can do for myself. When I stopped to help the turtle cross the road, I didn't just save his life. I also saved mine.

BTW: After my life-saving mission, I realized that what I had done was very dangerous, because I had been kneeling down in front of my car. What if some crazy had come along and decided to ram my mom's car? I should have at least pulled over. I can see people's comments in the paper... "that's just like her, to save a turtle." Something that could be taken either way, haha. The Herald would have some obnoxious headline, such as "HARE WINS THIS RACE!"