The month of May celebrates World Turtle Day (or as the website, worldturtleday.org, cleverly explains, it’s time to “shellebrate” all things turtle). When it comes to reptiles, I have no problem playing favorites: turtles win. I’m a fan of these slow-movers for several reasons. First of all, “slow” is not a bad thing; in my opinion, the fast lane is overrated. Sheltering in place? Well, turtles have always been able to do this. And I am pretty smitten with turtle faces. Looking at all those wrinkles, I can’t help but imagine what type of conversation I might have with Mr. or Mrs. Turtle: leisurely, full of wisdom, and completely at home with silence. How peaceful that sounds.
As much as I want to sit down with a turtle, introduce myself and ask big, meaningful questions, I do not speak Testudinesia (yes, I made up that word, but not without merit: in the scientific classification scheme, turtles belong to the order of Testudines). But I do have a bit of real-life experience with these gentle, shelled beings. I had a tiny turtle when I was a little girl, and I named her Laura. We lived in New Mexico at the time, and Laura resided in a small tank which sat by my bed. Unfortunately, she didn’t live very long, but she gifted me with a life lesson: living beings die. My dad helped me bury her in our backyard. RIP, Laura.
Some years later, my dad accepted a job in southern Nevada. We moved into our new home and soon found that we were not the only residents. An abundance of black widows, one tarantula, a single snake (as far as we know), multiple scorpions and a desert tortoise called our home their home, too. Spiders, scorpions and snake(s) were not exactly welcome additions, but the desert tortoise slowly worked her way into our hearts. The naming of an animal is mysterious and extremely personal (the poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote, “The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter / It isn’t just one of your holiday games”), so the tortoise became Bertha, and I cannot explain why. Anyway, Bertha lived in our backyard for many years, enjoying handouts of lettuce and other vegetarian treats, and I’m happy to have shared my life with such a gentle creature.
For turtle lovers everywhere, here is a brief list of turtle-related books. Children’s titles dominate, but readers of all ages can enjoy these choices.
