Turtles and Deer Oh My

The turtles were out in full force today. I hit the towpath at Swain's Lock, a little north of yesterday's ride, and headed south toward Great Falls. The turtles were everywhere- lined up in an organized manner on logs all down the canal. I noticed there seems to be a pecking order to arranging a bale of turtles on a log. It seemed the smallest was always farthest up the log--meaning they were the first out of the water and into the sunlight. That makes sense. It's easy to imagine the rest of the group working as spotters of sorts as the tiny turtle makes its way out of the chilly water and onto the sunlit fallen tree.

Pedaling along I considered the peaceful turtle and somewhere between singing my very best rendition of Elton John's "Rocket Man" and Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" I decided perhaps they were my spirit animal. After all, we both like sitting by the water with the sun on our back. So, really- is it too far fetched to consider that our relationship goes a little deeper?

I'm not clear how one goes about identifying their spirit animal so I turned to the internet for help. One site listed a few ideas for getting in touch with my spirit animal. Basically, I had to be on the lookout for animals and note the ones I keep seeing- whether it be in real life or in a dream. Another option was to take an online quiz. Certainly, the turtles were everywhere today but that was only because I chose to be in an environment where I knew they would be. Does that mean anything?

Who knows. I took the quiz and was told my spirit animal is a deer. I was disappointed at first because the other thing I did while riding my bike today was write this blog post in my head. Finding out the turtle was my spirit animal was really going to bring this all together. Sorry readers-- that didn't work.

It's okay though. Having the deer as my spirit animal apparently gives me the power to deal with challenges with grace. Apparently, I have the ability to "be vigilant, move quickly and trust [my] instincts to get out of the trickiest situations."

Yup, I'll take that right about now.