Slow and Steady Wins the Race



We had a hell of twenty minute thunderstorm right before I went home tonight. It was pretty impressive. Lots of crashing lightning and the deluge was magnificent. The water was spraying like fountains out of the storm drains and an impromtu river gushed between the two houses across the street. I thought the little car on the roadside might go down the hill for a moment there. The water was half up the hub caps for a while. Oddly our side of the street barely registered the rain.

The detritus was most impressive on the way home. Waves of cedar shavings and small twigs with the occassional paper cup or plastic bottle from the construction sites. As I picked my way aroung the corner I saw this guy in the middle of the road. At first I thought it was a drowned squirrel but Mr. Turtle was quite alive and looked somewhat confused. Bad time to be in the middle of the road, with the commuters all coming home. I immediately reached for the camera of course, and ran interference with the cars behind me while I figured out what to do.

He was clearly trying to figure out how to get off the road. I figure he may have been washed out of the woods in the deluge. I wasn't sure if he would bite so I waved a stick around in his little face. He didn't try to bite it so I picked him up and he immediately retreated into his shell. I had a moment when I thought it might be fun to keep him but I set him on the verge of the woods instead. Hope he found his way home.