Traffic Jam

When I travel down the highways in the Dallas area, I expect to find a traffic jam or two. If not a full-fledged, jam of cars at least a major slow down is expected. I schedule the added time into my drive. I plan for it.

Besides my city driving and my highway driving, I frequently drive a lovely backroad in and out of town. Only on one occasion have I experienced a real clog-up of traffic there. In fact, the morning of that traffic jam, my 20 minute backroad drive took an hour and a half because the main highway had been closed and my backroad was the detour.

But that was only the one time.

Until today.

Today I was tootling along on my wonderful country road. Gorgeous big trees lining each side, casting shadows on the ground making an archway over the road. Lime green fields. Horses and their babies. And stretched out in front of me, nothing except an oncoming car going the opposite direction. I noticed the driver slowing down and as I approached the car I saw something in the middle of my lane, heading for her lane at a very slow rate.

I had to stop since I didn't know why she was stopping nor what was moving across my lane.

It was a tortoise (or is that a turtle) that was quite large. It moved slowly and didn't seem at all intimidated by my machinery on four wheels.

Now I'm stopped in the middle of this road and in the other lane, the car is stopped as well. We sit, watching this turtle creep onward, to cross the road. Soon, another car pulled up behind me while a few more cars pulled up on the other lane. We sat and waited while the turtle moved out of my lane. I drove on. Looking in my rear view mirror was a long, long pile of cars. And in the other lane, still at a stand still, were dozens of cars piled up, waiting on the turtle.

Why did the turtle cross the road? I have no clue.

I only know that it was amusing and entertaining to me as the wheels of activity paused momentarily for the honor of a turtle.