She was sitting in the street near my neighbor’s house,
pausing on her slow walk, woods and wetlands a block away.
Folks gathered, gazing at turtle and wanting to protect her from passing cars.

The safest place for her would be in the woods. I picked her up by her shell,
halfway between her front and back legs. She was snapping but her short neck
could not reach back to my hands.

As I was walking to the woods with turtle, children living near by were happy and  excited
to see a snapping turtle so close. In the woods I put turtle on the moist, wonderful earth,
patted her shell and wished her well.

Later pondering with a neighbor about why turtle was on McComb Street,
we both had a sense that she might have been getting ready to lay her eggs
and was heading for the woods. From past experiences with turtles,
we felt this was a real possibility.

And if so, I do believe I midwifed turtle to a safe place to give birth.