On Kindness

Dandelions in the garden at Twin Wolves.

I was driving along Queechy Lake when I saw something in the road. I positioned my wheels to either side of it and just as it passed under my car, I realized it was a turtle. At the next turn off spot, I turned around and went back to move the turtle out of the road. As I hopped out of the car to move the turtle, a car pulled up alongside me on the opposite side of the road. It was a woman driving and she was laughing and said “We’re doing the same thing!” And I laughed and said, “You turned around to save the turtle, too?!” And she laughed and nodded. I was wearing shorts and no shoes and, as I picked up the turtle to move it out of the road, it repaid my kindness by peeing all over my leg and foot, “It’s peeing on me!” I yelled and we both laughed. I was delighted to learn so directly that if I hadn’t turned around to move the turtle, someone else would have, and that I could share in this small act of kindness with a kindred soul.