on a walk through the woods i happened to see

a turtle walking the path with me…………and as i came up to his side…….he looked up to me and sighed……………

”i suppose we shall never trade the circumstance in which we were made……………but me thinks it would be quite the novelty to see how each other would adapt if we changed bodies”………..and so we started this conversation……

we made the meeting place by the big oak struck by lightening on the second day after a rain…….to keep it from being so muddy…….sloppy for me and hard for ”tut” a name i gave him and he seemed to like the designation, to wade through…………..

we agreed that what we were trying to achieve was to relay a sense of what life was like from our perspective……………..and i think that was achieved to some degree…….

tut taught me the power of self -sufficiency and it’s limitations………….that the most important things we carry with us……..ability to love…………and our memories that shape and drive us……………about capturing essence of what is seen and becoming part of it…………..the details of life…….taking smaller bites as he put it……………pacing yourself in a cadence that feels right to you………………how to make friends quickly by identification of similar needs………he said he depended on this skill many times a day because his life depended on it…..

tut offered that i taught him to find inspiration from the mundane by looking into the horizon……the horizon of hope…….and the benefits of living in a world that was regulated by basic needs and not frivolous fancies of the moment…………….that simple had a lot going for it and that people unlike animals have agendas………..hurt for the sake of hurting……..and carry grudges………..a concept he couldn’t imagine…………….

many times we immensely enjoyed each others company by observing long periods of silence……………..

this went of for several years and we became best of friends….he shared with me his hardships and i likewise did the same with him and we came to the conclusion that we were better suited exactly where we were…….but it was good to have the information that we were uniquely equipped to be where we would be……….

i knew ”tut” was getting older and he stayed closer to the tree and he said he knew he would be going soon to a pond he had never seen………….he said i would never know how i had changed his life…… from from fretting about his circumstance to regaining the realization of paradise…….

i said he had done similar things for me and opened many doors……so that i could experience his world and he helped me to appreciate mine……………….happy travels……thanks ”tut”

i have had the pleasure of living what others dream and have gathered enough wisdom to believe in ”impossible” things

to contemplate a turtle…………..for ”tut”