project.chameleon

Midnight arrives, and I finally find myself with a little time to spare.

I'm sitting here downloading the beloved Radiohead songs, talking to good friends, and listening to some Ani.

Much happiness.

Anyway ... yesterday I realized about an hour before I was supposed to be going out that I was supposed to be going out. It was also at that time that I realized that all my black shoes were with Shannon for her photo shoot (and she didn't even use them!). So ... with 15 minutes before the local shoestore closes, I jump into my car and dash away.

But as I turned off my street onto the busier road that leads to town, I notice something in the road. I slow down, scrutinizing it through my window as I pass by.

It's a smallish sized turtle. In the middle of the road, nose turned up to look at me as I pass by.

So I watch in the rear view mirror as the car behind me nearly smooshes it. And I use the nearest driveway to turn around and head back, sliding into some form of a parking job near the turtle, half blocking traffic as I hop out of my car and walk over to the tiny thing.

I place him on the passenger seat (and MAN, did he stink!)and cruise back home, wondering what I am supposed to do with a small, stinky turtle. I enter the house and try to calm everyone down (mom: no more animals!, randy: uh, what is that?, boys: COOL! get it some food!) as I decide what to do with it.

Luckily, there is a community center nearby, complete with wooded trails and a creek. So turtle gets a new home. I hop back into my precious 4Runner and head off. It's easy enough to find a place near a slow moving section of creek, and I place him there, near the water on a bed of grass. And I worry that he will drown (can turtles even do that?), or get eaten by other (seemingly absent) creek dwelling animals, or that maybe he is sickly, and will spread some strange disease to the other animals.

So I say a little prayer (I pray for turtles now?) and give him one last look, before turning and heading to Wal-Mart for shoes, since the local shoestore has long since closed.

And as I rode off I wondered if anyone else would have stopped, or if he would have just become a dark spot on a dark road, something noticed but uncared for. And I wondered if he had been some little girl or boy's pet -- and they were in a house somewhere mourning the loss of their tiny smelly turtle.

I think too much.