Lightning McTurtle

The resort we stayed at in Cancun had lots of fun activities for the kids. One evening they were going to release a bunch of baby sea turtles into the ocean. All the kids were invited to help. Here are the turtles awaiting their first journey. They aren't in water because that makes them excited and they were supposed to be resting and conserving their energy. Mostly they were just scrambling all over each other, getting flipped on their backs and then trying their darnedest to get back on their tummies. (Insert metaphor for life here)

Here is Josh receiving his turtle. I love the look on his face! He looks a little unsure and kind of grossed out!

Nonetheless, he gathered his courage and grabbed a hold of the little fella (or lady, I don't know how to tell the difference) and continued grabbing at it while Jason tried to protect it. We took our place on the starting line and Jason said he thought Josh had broken the turtle's neck. I fought the urge to vomit, desperately racking my brain about what to do with the limp turtle in Jason's hand before the surrounding children starting asking, "Mommy, what's wrong with that turtle?" or "Daddy, why isn't that turtle moving?" I tried not to imagine the scene of children sobbing and parents throwing disapproving looks in our direction that would surely follow such questions. I was about to ask Jason to pocket the turtle discretely while I grabbed Josh, at which point we would casually stroll away from the joyful group and quietly bury our turtle in a respectful manner further down the beach, out of sight of innocent children. But suddenly with a little flap of his tiny flippers, our little turtle started moving again. Relief flooded through me. It appears the little guy was just playing possum.

Jason and Josh knelt down on the sand and gave the little guy a view of his future. If you ignore the sunburned guys with their beer bellies hanging over their swim trunks, it's a pretty nice prospect.

The kids were encouraged to name their turtles before sending them off. We decided Lightning McQueen would be a good name for Josh's turtle since he loves the movie Cars so much. When they gave the go ahead Jason placed Lightning in the sand and off he went.

It was amazing how the turtles knew exactly where to go. They headed straight for the water while everyone rooted for them. They looked so small when the waves swooped them up. Every now and then we would catch a glimpse of the turtles in the clear water as new waves formed and they swam further out. That was the last we saw of them. There were lots of turtles so we released one for Jane too. We named her Princess Jane. It's funny how once you held the tiny turtles in your hand and gave them names, you really wanted them to make it.

A feeling of dismay came over the group when some frigate birds showed up and started diving into the water for a free meal. I told myself that Lightning and Princess Jane were swimming happily beyond the birds' reach, that our turtles had made it safely to an ocean home. I'm sure everyone else on that beach was telling themselves the same thing about their turtles. It seemed I wasn't going to be able to avoid sad children after all.

Still, as we watched God's creations play their parts in Earth's story under a setting sun, we were filled with awe and yes, corny as it sounds, we were changed.