Was this the answer to some of the recent burning questions? Would I have seen this little spectacle had I not asked?
A turtle in the basement of the pet store a few blocks away from here seemed to be on a really serious mission. Not only was the animal not in its sand-box, it was running in perfect circles of maybe a two yard circumference. The birds were screeching like mad in their cages, the fish was swimming in ever tighter loops, the snakes were curling in their terrariums much wilder than I had ever even seen on tv.
The turtle was on the run, the turtle was on the run.
It was, of course, a run with the speed of a turtle. From the lofty upright human perspective the animal seemed to merely trott. But still, there was a wild determination, the counter clock direction of the circle, under the aquariums, between the legs of a chair and on and on.
The running stopped once the food was served. Simple looking green lettuce seemed to be a great meal for the turtle.
Because of the low light in the basement, and because of the very determined walk of the animal, the pictures below probably describe the situation better than I can describe it here using words. The turtle was really incredibly fast, well, for a turtle… it was very powerful, again for a turtle, there was something in the entire movement, in the entire situation really, that was older than either one of us, or even the knowledge of those before us… and I think that today I have learned a hint os a lesson much older than mammals or maybe even turtels…