Hmmmm...let's find out

One dark and stormy night....er, ok, ok...so it was a sunny evening...Wednesday to be exact. I was cruising highway 20, Chadron bound, spacing out on the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers' release (awesome, by the way) when I saw something odd just on the other side of the center line. It was a huge box turtle.

"Oh crap, I hope it has not already been whacked," I thought as I spun a U-turn and headed back on my latest wildlife rescue mission. I had spied some cars heading toward me and knew I did not have much time to act. Once I stopped, the turtle's head popped out of it's shell to inspect the newcomer.

I looked left, looked right and shot across the road, snatched the turtle up, and retreated to the grass beyond the should, images of "Wildest Police Videos" playing like a bad movie. Mr. Box Turle was still, er, en-shelled. Poor thing, I would hide too if I saw some goofy looking BIG person leap out of a huge monster and snatch me up off the ground then stare at me through glass devices. Eeek.

I removed my glasses, and he popped his little head out finally, but his eyes were really REALLY big. Then, the inevitable - I call it the "toad effect." He peed...then hissed at me...it was beautiful. Mr. Turtle, who might have been a missus, started trying to run. Hooray! He had not suffered any damage on the road. I was beyond excited. I rushed him over to the marshy grasses about fifteen feet from the shoulder and man, did he cruise. Hit the road. Vamoosed. It was grand.

His shell was dark green with yellow designs and his legs had bright red bands. He was awesome. If it was not for taking the time to enjoy the natural beauty this world has to offer every day, I might never have even noticed him and he would have been squished. Some things are, indeed, more important than the Red Hots.