it has been years since I participated in the event known as the Shenandoah Mountain 100
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I love animals... I love nature
in that... I love to interact with animals and nature
it is always catch and release
be that a fish.... a snake... a toad I confuse for a frog... of a salamander
that is a salamander?
last weekend I did the "casual ride" at the MORE picnic
although it is more within my nature to seek out being the "slow rider in a fast group" rather than being "the fast rider in a slow group"
I rode the casual ride so that I could hang with my nine year old son Grant
sure Grant could have hung with the kids...I thought for some reason that he would do well to ride a longer ride
I may have been wrong
on this casual ride there was a moment where riders stopped for a turtle on the trail
a well meaning rider... lets call this rider "Peter"... the rider we call Peter picked up the American Box Turtle and put it on the trail side
then...
Pete mounted up and started off
Peter was not more than a pedal stroke away and I saw the turtle start tumbling!
it was like something from a movie
that turtle was spending more time in the air than on the ground
hard to tell... but it looked like arms and legs were out of the shell reaching for anything
Peter could have thrown the turtle and it would not have gone that far
not sure what happened to that turtle
hopefully he did not slam against a rock
hopefully he did not suffer any serious damage
hopefully he did not land on his back and die a slow death
hopefully he landed next to the turtle of his dreams and lived happily ever after
so often man tries to intervene in nature
even with the best intentions
sometimes our involvement in things has a horrific outcome
if nothing else
this turtle was part of the Turtle Relocation Program
as I doubt that this turtle would be able to scale that hill and return to the spot where it previously stood