The Turtle Trying To Cross Harlem Avenue

I was driving northbound on Harlem Avenue and there was some type of snarl in the traffic as I came to the intersection of Harlem and 143^rd street.

I thought, “Oh brother, what’s going on, now?”

I discovered that a large turtle was crossing Harlem Avenue.

I would love to know why that turtle thought he needed to get to other side of that busy road.  Did he have some kind of urgent business on the west side of Harlem Avenue that needed his attention?

You already know this, but I’ll mention it anyhow:  Turtles are slow.  At this section of Harlem Avenue the speed limit is (I think) 50 mph.  When there are lots of cars going 50 mph and a slow turtle sharing the same road, that does not make for a good situation… particularly for the turtle.

The traffic was halted—in part for the turtle and in part because the traffic light was red.  I thought, “I don’t think this turtle is going to make it across.”

But even as I was pondering the situation, a young man jumped from his car (I mean that he jumped out of his stopped car, but you knew that, right?) and picked the turtle up off the road.  This was not as easy as it sounds because the turtle clearly did not want to be picked up. 

Hey, a turtle can get feisty if he has to!

But the young fellow managed to pick him up anyhow and he took the turtle off to the tall grass near the forest area by the side of the road.  The turtle was probably mad but I think the young guy saved his life.

I know when I started writing this there was some kind of moral to the story I was going to explain but I can’t think of any wise lesson, now.

Oh, wait a minute, here’s a moral for any turtles who may be reading the Internet:  There’s nothing on the other side of Harlem Avenue that you need to risk your life getting.