In the six hours I was on the road this afternoon driving home from Vermont, the image that lingers longest in my mind is of a big Snapping Turtle walking along the edge of Route 1 outside Wiscasset. She didn't need my help right then, and I hope that she eventually ambled off the road and safely laid her eggs somewhere. But I worried about her for the rest of the way home, so vulnerable, as all creatures are, to our speeding cars...

Miles and hours driving
and all I can think about--
the turtle I passed.