What about turtles?

Well armored, slow moving, long lived ancient reptiles of the order testudines.  Prized in many cultures for their meat, I have never eaten it. Science suggests that the turtle is a more ancient species than lizards, snakes or crocodiles. It has recently been noted that the organs of a turtle do not age and deteriorate the way most animals do. This has sparked scientific interest in the genetic composition of these creatures that live to be centenarians. 

How long do you want to live? Would you want to live to be two hundred if it meant growing a shell? Perhaps science can find a way to extract the longevity of the turtle for our use without having to grow a protective shell. Do you want to be one of the first to try it? Will it be something that is added to our water so we don’t notice it? Little by little each generation lives longer and longer until we are snapping at flies and moving ever so slowly for hundreds of years. I do hope there is a cure for cancer before the longevity water is perfected.  

I can not even imagine what the next fifty years has in store, besides longevity water in bottles of course because the municipal water supply is no longer drinkable. Will we be mutants of some sort from all the radioactive particles in the water and the vegetables here in California and other parts of the world due to the Japanese nuclear disaster? Will we be living in a world that has undergone extreme climate changes and whole areas of the world are no longer inhabitable while others that were once uninhabitable have emerged as new frontiers? Will we be moving forward with sustainable fuel types and sustainable housing? 

Part of my wants to see the future and all that it holds for my grandchildren and their children.  That part is optimistic that indeed we will solve the problems that confront our opulent lifestyles and find sustainable means of co-existing on the planet. That is the future I want to participate in!  The turtle in me wants to pull in my head and hope I can live out my life quietly unnoticed moving slowly toward my end in the world I am accustomed to with no further change. Most days I am still wanting, willing and able, thank you God, to participate.  I think I should get pet turtles for the grandkids and teach them how to care for turtles so my grandchildren will be ready when I need them!