Feels Good to be A Turtle

I just love being a turtle. I just realized it today when my human mother was speaking to me. She was wondering aloud to me what it must be like to be a turtle and I was wishing I could open my mouth and explain it to her. She doesn’t currently understand everything I say when I blink my eyes or flitter my back flippers. Duh…. it means I’m happy! She was explaining to me that it’s been raining for a few, if not several days. Not that I was really wondering about the rain, although, I was wondering why we haven’t gone out into the grass or played with the dog. I do so enjoy getting outside in the sunrays of the earth. I am growing really fast even with only the sun of my lamp. Finally about to lose some of my scutes… This here, this is the real joy of being a turtle. My turtle shell! This thing rocks. Pardon the pun please, as I know that I must resemble a rock at times, but that is only because my Plastron is changing colors. Getting darker. My plastron is the top of my shell. The carapace is my bottom and has expanded. The human wonders if I have growing pains because it seems I grow almost literally over night, some days. I sometimes find myself wondering if this must be what it felt like for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when they metamorphosed. Those guys are cool! Anyway. As I was saying. I’m growing really fast and my human is amazed. I’m so healthy and cute! Or that’s what she tells me anyway. I’m not all too familiar with the term except that she uses it for me and the cats and the dog all the time. It must be something nice because she uses a really high pitched voice and makes sure we all hear her well enough to understand that she is caring about us. Otherwise, it’s just so super cool having a shell. It helps me swim and keeps me safe from myself when I accidentally fall off my rock. That is a long fall. It is so weird because, someday, I will actually be bigger than that rock! I think probably the neatest part about being a turtle is definitely my turtle shell. It is so amazingly constructed and protective and decorative and - well, neat. In some cultures, turtle shells are considered a divine source of wisdom. There are several accounts in some Native American symbolism where the turtle itself represents the earth and the heavens. The plastron representing the heavens - round and leading upward as a mountain to the heavens. The plastron representing the flat of the earth (before we discovered the earth was round, of course). These accounts serve a purpose in their cultures and I am grateful for the adoration which offers me as a living, breathing representation of life to our mother earth. Just another reason it’s so good to be a turtle!

YOUR IDEAS

In the past weeks, there has been mention of a new feature coming to this blog. The human is having a rough time figuring it out. Likely because she is ill advanced in the realm of technology. She learns by God, it just takes time. As a promise to readers, we are posting every Friday night. In the coming weeks, we will be posting every Friday night via a webcast, audio recorded event, or youtube video. What the human wants... Your ideas… what would you enjoy best? She can post to youtube so you can see videos of me and hear my story that week. Or you can simply listen with a visionary mind, perhaps with scrolling images depicting my growth progress. Readers, please speak out. We need to know you’re out there! In the meantime, we thank you for your patience in the arrival of this big event for this little blog. The human has been quite busy preparing for this and while the delay was imminent… it IS coming soon!

Charlotte Speaks

Here among the blades of grass, Stands the giant dog. He is enormous even. Ginormous. A Tyrannosaurus Wrecks-A Lot. ----- My shell protects me From the dangers He presents. To be stepped upon Would be Strange. ----- But Alas, This daylong sun Is a lovely sight to see. When the dog With all his Might Is Not Hovering Over Me. ----- The sun is warm. The air is crisp. The leaves are Changing Colors. ----- The last rain, Fresh on the Ground, Smells like Something I’d like to Devour. ----- That fence is too tall. And, It comes too close to the ground. How’s a girl to get around? ----- Here’s the cat. He’s crazy. Always wants to play with me. I mean to say It’s something to see. ----- Now, back to The home tank To Swim Among the Guppies Allow me to be Frank Those fish are Yummy! ----- Maybe tomorrow We’ll come back outside Again. I’ll just be Floating around Until then. ----- See you next week For another Update. I’ll try to be done Early So you Mustn't Stay Up Late. .....

Why We Read

I was watching the human this afternoon while I was out for my daily wanderings through the big space with grass. It must be the backyard, sometimes maybe the front yard. One of them is closer. I like to walk through the grass and feel the fine blades under my shell. There are only so many places for me to walk to before the human moves me. There are places I must be able to get underneath. Definitely plenty of places to hide. Especially the luscious clovers. So, I get to wandering and she moves me and I get to wandering again and she moves me, so finally I get to somewhere that I can pretend she cannot see me, and I watch her. From under the dried leaves on the ground I can peek through and watch her reading. It is peaceful when she reads. She allows me some freedom (once I sit still) and she just reads in her book. In my observations, it is apparent to me that reading is important. If one cannot read, one cannot write. Without written words, where would your social activity evolve? Think about this. Humans have not evolved to a level of conscious such as turtles. We do not speak at all and merely communicate through body language. Nowadays with all your technology, you people seem to communicate via written word more than ever before. If you cannot read, how will you communicate with the rest of the universe? Reading is more important than just reading words, however. Comprehension is an even more involved exercise within your reading. Just look at that word for example - comprehension. Do you know how many syllables that is? Do you know that the ‘sion’ at the end of that word sounds like ‘shun’? If you do not comprehend what I’m saying here, you must practice. My human reads a lot about turtles. This helps her to better understand how to best take care of me. She also reads a lot of different things, ensuring her the skills to be a better writer. As for me, I like it best when she reads books. This is when I get to go outside.

The Words of the Girl

Welcome back.  Charlotte has been on hiatus for a few days preparing for her next great adventure.  Her story, as perhaps expected, has been coming along slowly in her earliest moments of youth.  As she is growing bigger and stronger and emerging from infancy to toddler stage, however, so will her perspective grow and become stronger as well.

As previously mentioned, in the span that will become Charlotte’s lifetime, she may live to 30 years or more.  This means that even while in her reptile life, she is only several months old, in the relation to a human, she is now approximately the equivalent of a toddler moving from age 2 to 3 years. We may as well assume that Charlotte is aged 30 months in relation to a human child.  

There have been reports of people living over the age of 122.  It has been officially documented that this is now the official maximum life expectancy for any other human that has not yet died.  And so it has been documented for a yellow bellied slider in captivity to live to 58, we can expect Charlotte to have a lot more to say than what she had for lunch in the coming years.  

Charlotte is here to tell this story, I am here to listen, and then, to write it.  

Today, Charlotte embarks upon a new relationship with her readers.  

Commitment.  Focus.  Sharing.  Trust.

Commitment to one post per week.

Focus on topics you care about.

Sharing the valuable time we have together.

“Trust me, Wilbur.  People are very gullible.  They’ll believe anything they see in print.”

~E.B. White.

You may recognize this last quote from Charlotte’s namesake - the spider.  This is only meant to pique your interest.  You may admire the pun or else mis-understand it.  Should the latter be your avenue, recognize, there will be no lies told here.  Merely a story imagined, yet full of reality.   

There will be baby steps.  There will be awkward moments.  There will be a time for laughter and a time for tears.  Time for self reflection and no time for judgement.

Charlotte’z We[b]log was created as a platform for visitors to enjoy reading.  To enjoy the broader spectrum than what we see with our own naked, human eyes each day.  A weekly anecdote to the life surrounding us all.

And without further adieu… The Words of the Girl.

I’m flipping my legs as if I’m going somewhere, seemingly flying through the air if it were not for the three strong human fingers holding me here, mid air.  It is time to go outside and get some sunshine.  She will set me back down eventually.  I should remember this by now.

The day is glorious, beautiful.  The perfect day to warm myself  in the real sun and meander through the yard in exploration of a way out into the world beyond the fence line.  My human will sunbathe today as well.  Vitamin D is the good stuff.  I got the right human for the task of spending time outdoors, that’s for sure.  

In this daily adventure, I will embark upon many things to see and hear.  The birds chirping, the sun blazing down, the honey bees buzzing for nectar in the dandelions.  As I am watching the bees, I have become interested just long enough to capture the gaze of the human, also interested in the interaction.  

This is my life.  Human, turtle, bee - there’s a dog too, and of course, Einstein the cat.  There is also another cat - though he’s not typically interested in this activity.  

Beyond swimming around all day and basking upon my rock, I enjoy this time spent outside with the human, most.  I hate it when she pulls me away from hiding somewhere though.  I’ll come back out eventually.  My opinion - she’s impatient.  But I also think she kind of likes me.  She does not yet realize that I’m usually only going to stay there for a few minutes, maybe ten, if she can stand it that long before looking in on me.

All in all, it’s nice today.  My human sunbathes even while the world around her seems tumultuous and scary as it spins around in circles.  I am content because she cares for me in lieu of fighting wars and political battles - though I think she could take a senator if one needed put in his place.

I like it that she shares my attitude:

We are all in the same pond.  Let us live.  And, even while it seems like an awful large pond out there, I like mine just fine.

I am in mid air again.  We must be going inside now.  This time I’m squirming because I do not want to go.  Although, the human brought me some guppies the other day.  Maybe I can corner one.  Otherwise, I’ll bask on my rock for a few minutes, later tonight, after dinner.

I could get used to this turtle life.