Tortoise musings

Short of legs but not insight
Eyes awe bound
Belly earth borne, 
Back home packed
Gait monastic

Native of no land, 
Call led crawls, sense fed-
A bite here, a munch there
Bidding Time to slough out
Of this shell clad life. 

(Tortoise poem by yoonoos peerbocus)

We never had a pet tortoise when we were children, other people did, many other people did.  Even Blue Peter had a tortoise (generally called Fred irrespective of gender).  We used to watch the Blue Peter tortoise, fascinated as it was put in a box for the winter and equally fascinated when it emerged some weeks later.  I sort of wanted one but at the same time did not, they did not call to me as a must have pet.

There was once a time when as an adult on one of our holidays in North Wales we went to Pwllheli on the quest for a stone tortoise.  It was not a successful quest but a highly entertaining afternoon the memory of which we still talk about every time the town is mentioned.

Now there is a new tortoise on the block, a new kid in town.  A hidden tortoise I have visited and been close to for many years yet until the other day I had not seen.  Then suddenly, on closer inspection there it was.  That stone that had looked like a stone was actually a tortoise.

and it has its own little island, which can only be called Tortoise Island from now on.

Happy tortoise.