A Story from a Friend

Too many people snicker when they hear my name for the first time.  I think it needs to be understood that I had nothing to do with that name being hung on me.  Some human called a taxonomist, (how’s that for a silly name?) decided long ago that I should be called a Suwannee Cooter. So, go ahead and get it over with, enjoy your little giggle and get over it so I can tell you my story.

 About three weeks ago, I climbed out of my lovely home in a natural free flowing spring. The water there is as clear as fine crystal and flows at a near constant 67 degrees year around.  These placid waters, lush with aquatic vegetation have served as my home for over thirty years.  This place is special because no humans live there. And, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I know this because I have spent many lovely days there, sunning on a log and listening to visitors at my home utter heartfelt praises to that effect. Wakulla Springs State Park is a beautiful and natural place alright, but it is the only home I have ever known. I am sorry the rest of the world is not equally beautiful and I am certainly blessed to have been able to live there my entire life.

 But this day was to be different from all the other days this past year. You see, each of the past twenty years, in the late spring, I have dutifully answered the urging voices of my ancestors and left the safety of the water to find a warm sunny location to deposit my eggs in some sandy soil.  I must complete this task each year, and I do it at risk of great peril because, as I leave the safety of my watery home, I have no escape from danger because, well after all, I am a turtle for goodness sake.

As I pushed my way through the lush, emerald green vegetation of north Florida springtime, I began to hear the familiar sound of distant thunder. I have no concern about getting wet as I have my house on my back and carry it with me wherever I travel. So I pushed on and after a hard rain began to fall I walked into a large clearing.  I found nothing but grass, very short and even grass.  I was in need of a clearing like this but I needed some sandy soil to dig a hole for my eggs.

 I walked up a short hill and onto a very hard surface. It would be impossible to dig here so on I walked, in the rain.

 I know now that I had walked onto what humans call a “road” because of a conversation I overheard about an hour later. Just then, at a speed that I still cannot comprehend, because things in my life proceed in turtle time, a very large metallic beast suddenly appeared and squashed me like a bug.  I remember very little except the question “What the heck was that?” and the intense pain exploding throughout my body.

 Blood began to flow freely from the many fissures in my shell.  The blood mixed with the rain water and formed a small stream flowing toward the edge of the road.  I figured this was how it was to end for me but was saddened that it could not have occurred after I got these eggs safely deposited.  At least my kids would have had a chance to carry on this ridiculous family name of Cooter. My vision began get foggy and the pain seemed to be fading as well. It had been a good life, after all.

 The next thing I remember was being gently lifted from the pool of my own blood by the first human I ever met, face to face.  I know now that his name was Cal, Cal Jamison, and as he stood in the pouring rain examining my crushed carapace, I wondered what the heck he was thinking.  He looked deeply concerned, and said, “I know just the place for you”.  He had a very kind face, was obviously concerned about me, but I honestly thought he was planning to eat me. I have always heard such things about people.

 Cal placed me in a box on the front seat of his truck and drove for about 10 minutes.  He carried me and the box from the truck and into a building.

 Once inside, I heard him say “Tell Norm that I have a patient for him.”

 A very pleasant lady behind the counter whose name was Alison said “Right away Cal, what have you got there?”

 “I have a turtle that has been hit by a car,” he said while examining my considerably distorted body.

 About that time this Norm character appeared and said hello to Cal and invited him to bring me to the back.  After a quick summary of my predicament he handed me over to this Norm character.  Now I have to tell you folks, I was scared.  I had earlier wondered if Cal was going to eat me, but this dude was feeling all over me and stretching my legs all out and peering into my eyes with a bright light.  There was lots of stainless steel around so I figured I must be in the kitchen now. 

 After he poked around on me some more he looked at Cal and with a twinkle in his eye said, “I think we can fix him, his spinal cord appears to be intact despite that awful fracture in the center of his carapace.”

 Cal smiled and said, “Great, let me know when he’s done and I will pick him up.”

 My God, what the heck am I, fast food? I was beginning to weaken more at the thought of being dinner when a lovely lady named Maria appeared and began to clean my wounds. She was very kind and I immediately began to feel better.  She did not appear to me to be someone who would eat turtles.

 It was about that time she said, “Dr. Griggs, do you think we can save her? Can she be free again?”

Did I hear her correctly? Did she say doctor? Did she say free again? Could it be that there is such a thing as a turtle doctor and could it be my fortune to meet him just when I needed him most? I began to see a small ray of sunshine on my otherwise miserable day.  Maria gave me a poke with a needle and quietly assured me that my pain would get better, and it did. I dozed comfortably for the remainder of that horrible day.

 Later that day (I believe it was after dark) I was awakened from a slumber by Dr. Griggs and his wife Melody.  As he lifted me from my towel and explained my injuries to Melody, I started to get sick. It sounded really bad. I had so much damage to my shell that Melody did not seem too convinced this was going to work out. After a long conversation and confident persuasion my surgeon and his anesthetist were ready to go to work.

He gave me an injection to make me get sleepy so that they could put a breathing tube down my throat.  But because I was so weak he did not want to give me very much anesthetic by injection.  After about 30 minutes I still was not asleep enough to start the work to reconstruct my home. So Melody put a clear mask over my face and sent me off to the greatest sleep I have ever had.

It only seemed like a moment had gone by and I heard voices but I was still very much asleep.  Dr. Griggs said “That should do it; she will be fine in a few days”.

 I heard Melody comment that the surgery had taken over 2 hours.  Then I heard her say that I would not breathe on my own anymore.  She still had the tube in my airway but I was just too tired to breathe.  She continued to care for me and breathe for me for a very long time and so did Dr. Griggs.  Finally, he told her it was no use breathing for me any more.  It was time to call it quits. He hugged her and told her it was not her fault.  I screamed that I was OK but nothing came out.  The injection he had given me to start the surgery had finally kicked in and I felt like I was far down a long dark hallway.

She felt really, really sad.  I was alive though. Turtles live in “turtle time” and we can go for a very long time without a breath and we don’t die. She finally carefully placed me on a towel in the deep tub and with a tear in her eye they turned out the lights and went home. I just drifted off to a nice sleep and took a breath about every 15 minutes for the next several hours.

 Early the next morning I heard the door open and Dr. Griggs came in to see me. He was obviously shocked and very happy to see me walking about the tub like nothing was wrong.  I felt a little beat up but otherwise, I just wanted to go home.

 He got this crazy, giddy smile on his face and ran off to a telephone and called Melody. When she answered he said, “You know there are some things that I would never joke about, right”?

  After a short pause he said “You guessed it, she is alive and well and looking for a way out of here. Crazy isn’t it?”

 My doctor was a very happy person.  I overheard him tell the story over and over all morning long. That guy really loves turtles and I am sure glad.

That very afternoon I was happy to see Cal staring down at me.  He had a big smile on his face and I no longer felt like I was on the dinner menu.  He has such a kind face and I had a feeling that he was here to rescue me once again.

I don’t really mean that in a bad way. You know what they say. You can never get well in a hospital.  Someone always wants to mess with you – poking and prodding at your wounds, all the while discussing your prognosis.  I find it a bit embarrassing to have folks eyeballing me like I was an E.T. just off a space ship.  Heck, I am a turtle, but not just any turtle. I am a Suwannee Cooter mind you.  And I have to admit I am looking pretty good again.

 After a short conversation, Cal put me in a box and off we went.  He told the newspaper folks about me and how Dr. Norm had left me for dead and how I gave him that little surprise.  Now the entire county knows that he doesn’t know a dead turtle from a live one.  Just my little joke on him.  Tee hee.

 Cal took me back to my beloved spring and kept me in a comfortable pen for a week just to make sure I was healing.  Then he called my doctor and him and Melody came over so that I could show them my home. They carried me deep into the cypress marsh, flush with ferns and giant hardwood trees.  At the edge of a small sparkling feeder spring, without fanfare my doctor said goodbye to me and set me free once again.  I went straight to the bottom of the cold water spring and never looked back. It felt so good to be back in the water, so cool and I was totally weightless again. God, I missed this place.

 After a few moments I peeked around the log that I was behind about 6 feet underwater and I saw them all still standing there.  I could sense that they were happy.  I don’t remember what prompted me to do so but I left my hiding place and swam back to the surface. I paused, looked at them as sincerely as a Cooter can look and said thank you and goodbye. With that I returned to my world and them to theirs. 

 You may doubt my story but it is true.  I know I did not dream it because I have half a dozen screws and a bunch of stainless steel wire all covered with acrylic to make me smooth and protect me from infection while I heal here in my world.

 Now that I am home I have become quite the celebrity.  I gather quite a crowd out on the old sunning log as I tell my story to the other turtles and the birds and gators.  The young ones insist on touching my “hardware” as I tell my tale.  It’s crazy, but  I wear the proof.

 So that’s my story folks. I will be signing off now.  Back to turtle time, no hurries, no worries.  If you please, I would like to leave you with the sincere wish that you may experience the peace and joy that is mine each and every day in my world. Try to enjoy each day, each breeze, each bird song, and each friend like you would never encounter them again.

 Then, my friends, you will be living; living in Turtle time.