I was on strolling down a path in a semi-open wooded area, on the look for early spring warblers, when I came upon an impressive specimen of the Common Snapping Turtle. It looked to be close to two feet long from head to tail. Quite a prehistoric looking creature – scaly tail, massive shell and wrinkled, dinosaur-like head with its powerful hooked jaw.

You can imagine my surprise. What in heaven’s name was this Snapper doing in the woods? Land travel was clearly not an easy task for it. I watched for several minutes as it made its way slowly and painstakingly around tree roots and through brushy tangles.

I did a little research on Snappers. They evolved over 40 million years ago and roamed the earth with dinosaurs. They can live up to 30 years and, surprisingly, do travel extensively overland to reach new habitat or lay eggs.

I’m guessing that this specimen was a female making her way to dig a nest and deposit her eggs. I couldn’t help but wonder – seeing how arduous land travel was for her – whether this would be her last such journey and whether she would have the strength to find her way back to the water. But not making the journey did not seem to be an option. Instinct overruled self-preservation.

There are times in all our lives when we have to undertake a journey through unfamiliar terrain. We stumble along, two steps forward and one step back, wondering if we’ll reach our still unknown destination or get hopelessly lost.

The voice of doubt urges us to turn back for the safety of familiar surroundings – and sometimes we do. But always the journey remains to be taken because we will not find home until we do. Home is as much about what we learn along the way as it is about the place of rest we eventually reach.

A Common Snapping turtle making the uncommon journey to fulfill its destiny – a random act of metaphor for the journey home we are all compelled to make.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

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I was winding myself up for another work day. Going through the motions of a routine so well rehearsed I could do it blindfolded. Then I saw it. A narrow band of phosphorescent orange on the horizon doing battle, or so it seemed, with the looming, grey clouds that dominated the skyline.

It look vaguely ominous and, at the same time, outlandishly hopeful. It struck me like nature’s horoscope for the day. There would be frustrations and obstacles to surmount. Dead ends to find my way around and one way streets where there shouldn’t be. But hope and optimism would ultimately prevail if I kept the faith.

I’ve heard it said that we can create our own future if we focus our energies on where we want to end up. On the other side of the equation lies the philosophy that we each have a destiny that is laid out from the moment we are born.

The truth may be somewhere in between. There is a road that each of us is meant to travel. But the destination is not a fixed point in time or place. The choices we make, or fail to make, influence where that road leads us. And the moral? We need to shake up our routines now and then lest we overlook the fork in the road when we approach it.

Nature’s horoscope in the morning sky – a random act of metaphor for the need to live an intentional life with our eyes wide open. The next crossroad may be the one we can’t afford to miss.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel”. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar.

~ If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings every 5 to 7 days. Categories: Shifting Winds, Sudden Light, Deep Dive, Songs of Nature, Random Acts of Metaphor. Or subscribe to my Twitter page (mdyetmetaphor) to receive a tweet when a blog posting goes up.

The first question is, of course, rhetorical. The second has deeper implications. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, these streamers of clouds – also known as ‘condensation clouds’ or ‘contrails’ – can last up to several hours. Elsewhere on the web I read that they can interfere with astronomical observations and may contain a toxic soup of chemicals.

They bring to mind a principle of life we all need to take to heart. Each of us leaves a trail behind as we carve our path through life. Footprints in the sand that can endure long after we are gone. Trails that intersect with the life paths of those around us – and those who come after us – altering their course. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes, unfortunately, for the worse.

There are those who believe that every footstep of our life is predestined. The course is set and there is nothing that we can do to alter it. But that’s altogether too easy and fatalistic for me. I chose to believe we are gifted with the power to make our own choices. We each have a destiny but how close we come to achieving it depends on the courage – and at times the selflessness – we demonstrate in making our choices.

The trails we leave behind do not last forever. Like the jet’s vapour trail, they linger for a time and then gradually dissipate. But in that space of time they can profoundly influence the lives of others and they become our legacy to those who come after us.

A vapour trail across the palette of the clear, blue sky. A random of metaphor for the legacy we spend a lifetime constructing. Footprints in the sands of time. What will your legacy be?

Did you enjoy this posting? If so, I invite you to view my blog – “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” – at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing, if you’re so inclined, are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: “How To” instructions page in the right sidebar.