Turtles, Turtles Everywhere

What is it with the turtles around here? We’ve had turtles everywhere! It started with Pierre’s encounter with the turtle in the flower garden. A few evenings later, John was outside checking on the fruit trees in the orchard with Shadow.  He came to the window and shouted for me to come out and see something.  I found Shadow crouched under a peach tree staring at something.  Under the tree, a box turtle was digging a mighty hole. We ran back inside (making sure Shadow came with us so she wouldn’t harass the turtle) and looked it up online. She was laying her eggs!

We’ve got the area marked off now since the university website we used for reference says they can take many months to hatch. I’m so excited. I want to see baby turtles!

Then this morning, Shadow and I were walking along the country road and saw a car swerving to avoid something in the road. Sure enough, it was another large painted box turtle zipping across the pavement crossing from the cattle field to the woods on the other side. I picked him up to get him out of the road, doing my good deed for the day. I received an evil hiss before Mr. Turtle ducked into his shell. So much for “thank you.”

I have a book of American Indian symbolism of animals.  Throughout my life, whenever an animal appears frequently like this, I always look up the symbol and find it uncanny in its accuracy about what is going on in my life.  Once, owls suddenly started appearing – and we rarely saw owls on Long Island, where I was living at the time.  On vacation in the Dakotas, we hiked right into a herd of buffalo, and one kicked what I thought was a clod of mud at me. Instead it turned out to be a gorgeous crystal that was almost perfectly pyramid shaped. It seemed like a magical moment so I cleaned up the crystal and have kept it in my office ever since.

Here’s what my book says the turtle represents: “Awakening to opportunities.”

And the turtle’s warning? Not to take life at too fast a pace. It asks, “Are you taking time for yourself?”

Given my inclinations towards workaholism, I say, “Thank you, Mr. Turtle, for your message!”