My New Pet

We got a tortoise today. That might sound strange to some, but we really love her. Everyone assumes that dogs and cats are the best pets, and I do love our dogs. But a tortoise is gentle and quiet and sweet and long-lived. Those of us with autism sometimes suffer from sensory issues, and a tortoise is, therefore, kind of perfect for us. 

Read Sy Montgomery’s book Of Time and Turtles and you will learn that turtles and tortoises are not mindless.  (I became friends with Sy years ago when I wrote to her, shortly after I started to be able to talk.  We stayed friends, even through my illness. My new baby is name Sy, in her honor.) And what you feel, when you watch a turtle or tortoise, is a kind of profound calm. Time slows down. Every day we are all so busy doing this or that. Before you know it, the afternoon is gone…then the day…the month…the year. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to let the tortoise win, while we take the time to smell the roses.