A condensed true story from a friend:
To Tortle, My Old friend
Some stories end well, some stories don’t. But some stories go on and I hope this one is one of them…
One morning, while at a local pet store in town a man came in with a small tortoise in the palm of his hand and said, “My daughter’s aren’t taking care of this, so please take it.” I had a tortoise years ago as a child so I would take care of this one.
I knew already that having a tortoise is more than having a regular pet. Having a tortoise is making a commitment to an animal that doesn’t really care about you the way that we understand caring — They don’t come up to you when you come home after a long day, unless that’s when you feed it. They certainly don’t fetch or play in any fashion. They don’t look for praise from you, they just are. And for some reason, at least to me, that’s downright respectable. To be logical, there’s no blame for being what you are, and all that you are. I suppose Popeye said it best, “I am what I am, and that’s all that I am.”
These animals have such awesome front arms, or in Popeye’s terms, forearms. To feel them is to feel raw power. Tortle dug a home for himself under the truck cab He dug under it, I kid you not, ten feet down at about a 30˚ angle, and made it his home! I had to dig/pull him out one winter a few years ago, after a couple days of cold rain. You see, tortoises are cold-blooded, as in they can’t produce heat like mammals(us, dogs, Chewbacca)can. They can die from that kind of exposure.
That was the catalyst that influenced me to make him a house. I figured that it’s the least I can do as I had made the commitment to be his steward, the caretaker of his well being. In true tortoise fashion, he hated it. He kept trying to get back to the place he made by his own will. Even though it had no heat, no nice flooring, no amenities of a “proper” dwelling. I had to discourage him by putting rocks in the entrance of his old place and had to basically train him to retire to his new housing.
All was fine, until he found a way to escape. You see, tortoises in captivity do three things well: eat — a lot, poop — even more, and inspect every inch of ground you have fenced off to make their escape. He had made some runs before -then the opportunity came that allowed Tortle to walk out the side gate that got left open.
A tortoise, although hard to believe unless you have/had one; has a magical ability to bend space and time. They can be in one area for, what seems like, say, 5 minutes; you look away for 20 seconds or less, and the beast is nowhere to be found. You look and look in the area “you just know” it’s around. It’s got to be, the beast was just right here …but it’s not there! You have to almost let your sense of sight go and use your sense of hearing to find them. Tortoises don’t have a bark or really any vocal cues(unless mating), but they are basically a bull in china shop — they will walk through anything, like a living tank; and you will hear them usually before you see them.
Being that more than an hour had passed before anybody in my family had realized that the gat had been left open, Tortle finally got his wish — to be free. What most of us think in terms of having pets is that they can’t make it out there in the wild. The elements, coyotes, hawks, countless people who love to speed on these streets, can take out most pets — not the tortoise. Sans from being in their own way sometimes, the tortoise can adapt to their surroundings. Remember, they are basically a tank/Winnebago. They can even go for weeks, if not months, without water. They are true survivors and that’s why they can live more than 80 years!
People helped me with a “lost” sign and then I got artsy and made a bunch of signs throughout the neighborhood. After a year had passed, there was one last sign holding on.
I believe that it stayed up, all weathered and worn, because I willed it to be there — it was my hope. After a while though, hope can fade and time has its way of either numbing or soothing the loss. I went to take the last sign down , but it had already been taken down. By who, I don’t know, but as I had mentioned — it was pretty shaggy by now, so I could see somebody putting it out of its misery.
If you’ve read this far, I thank you, dear reader. You now see, what’s lost and found is me. I had to go through all this losing Tortle to find myself. He showed me a lot by being all that he was. He wouldn’t apologize for leaving — it’s who he is, doing what he does — he’s free and I respect that. He did what he did every day to the best of his ability without looking for praise from me or anybody else — I respect that as well.
A few months back, I was driving to a job. As I was just coming up to the curve by I saw an older man walking a tortoise on the sidewalk that looked about as big as Tortle was when I lost him — with Sulcatas, most look alike to the average person, but when you actually have one, you see “tell-tale” marks on their shell(scutes). I wasn’t close enough to see the marks I know Tortle has(marks from rubbing against the cab of the truck when he made his home), but I had a certain feeling.
I was running late to my job, so I chose not to stop. But I thought at that split second, if it was Tortle, he’s doing exactly what I would want him to be doing. When Tortle was around, and I would have some free time, I would walk him on the side of the road sometimes. He seemed to like the freedom of being outside of the fencing, being able to expand his map a little.
If that older man was taking the time to walk that tortoise on the sidewalk, he loves that tortoise. And if that tortoise is, in fact Tortle, then he’s doing just fine.
Peace to you all and thank you for your time.
Lessons for Tortle: Be all that that you are. He wouldn’t apologize for leaving — it’s who he is, doing what he does — he’s free and I respect that. He did what he did every day to the best of his ability without looking for praise from me or anybody else — I respect that as well.
You are what you are and that is all that you are.
I hope you enjoyed that.
Lisa Y. life coach
www.facebook.com/lisaylifecoach