Today is World Turtle Day. (Really.)
I keep thinking about an article we posted on Facebook this week about a leatherback turtle that crashed a wedding in St. Croix. You can see the photos here. The guests were mingling on the beach and the leatherback emerged from the surf. She hauled herself up the sand and proceeded to lay a nest of eggs—a process that can take almost two hours.
Turtle friends posted and re-posted this on their own Facebook pages…the bride next to the leatherback. I loved the comments they made, things like: “Best photo bomb ever!” “Best wedding present ever!” and “Awesome wedding blessing from the universe!”
I bet that no matter how many years pass, the people who went to that wedding will never forget it. And every one of them will remember and talk about the leatherback.
That turtle made an already meaningful event extraordinary.
It’s one of the great gifts sea turtles give us. They arrest our view. They help us look for a moment not at ourselves, but at the miracle of a species that has remained virtually the same for more than 100 million years. By their simple presence, they offer us the chance to be amazed by our intricate, multifarious world.
And that is something to celebrate. So Happy World Turtle Day to all of you!
