On the drive over to school this morning, I got caught up behind another mother from our neighborhood. In other words, she slowed me down but, in a good way, because the slower speed enabled me to see the box turtle in the middle of the road and to stop for it.

I told the boys who were watching TV (Ice Age) to look out the car windows, look at the real world around them, look at the box turtle in the road. The mother in the car ahead of me stopped also and backed up towards us to see if we needed any help.

The angle was too sharp for them to see the turtle, so I told them to get out of the car if they wanted to see it.

As another car approached from behind, another parent from the neighborhood, I realized that the turtle would not make it across on his own fast enough. So, I motioned to that oncoming car to slow down and he did and I picked up the turtle and moved him to the side of the road. Then I let the car go by.

And when Mary saw that I had cleared the turtle, she continued on her way to school as well.

I brought my kids across the street and let them pick up the turtle. Tim was not really interested but he did hold it. They were careful not to drop it. We waited until he came out of his shell again and eventually he stuck his head out and looked around. Kenny wanted to keep him, of course, but he was a big turtle. A man in a car stopped and talked to us about the turtle, saying that he breeds them because they are endangered -- always getting run over in the road -- and he lets them go by the lake. Interesting.

Kenny wanted to hold the turtle again and move him closer to the woods by the side of the road. So, I let him do that. Then we walked back to our car. Yeah, we were 15 minutes late for school. So what. How often do you find a live turtle in the road?