I was riding down one of the many rural roads that surround this area, this morning. There's open farmland on both sides. They use concrete irrigation canals to water the fields. The canals were filled with running water about 2 feet deep.
I see this guy walking on the other side of the road coming toward me with two dogs. Both dogs looked like big, yellow labs with a little bit of something else mixed in. One of the dogs was on a leash and the other one was not.
When I was about a block away, the loose dog crossed over to my side of the road. I thought he was coming over to check out the strange vehicle (me) that was coming toward him. He didn't appear to be the least bit agressive, so I figured I'd just stop and pet him.
Well, that dog was not the least bit interested in me. He walked over to the edge of the irrigation canal and looked down for a second and then he jumped in!
As I rode past him I looked over and he was standing in water up to his chest and was looking at me. I swear that dog was smiling and had a look on his face that said, "Ah! This water feels SO good!"
About 20 minutes later, I was going down a deserted country road when I saw this little guy;
Here's a closer look;
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He stopped in the middle of the road as I went past.
I did a U-Turn to go back and take his picture.
As I started to pedal away, a white pickup truck came around the corner and was heading toward the turtle. I figured I'd go back and move the turtle to the side of the road before it got hit by a car.
The guy in the truck had the same idea! He stopped in the middle of the road right beside the turtle.
He put on his flashers and got out just as I pulled up behind him.
As he bent down to pick up the turtle, I said "That's just what I was going to do."
He started to walk to the side of the road the turtle had come from. I laughed and said, "He was going the other way!" Not that it really makes any difference, but this guy took me seriously and said, "Oh, was he?" He turned around and took the turtle to the other side of the road and put it down on the grassy shoulder.
This guy was wearing a shirt and tie and looked like he was going to work, so I thought it was pretty cool of him to take the time to stop and rescue the turtle.
He said, Enjoy the rest of your ride. It sure is a beautiful day!" and then he got in his truck and drove away. It's simple gestures like that that make me smile when I see a random act of kindness.
THE END
