What the Turtle Taught Me

At the end of last summer, my partner found a wounded Painted turtle on the yellow line of a busy two-lane highway along the shore of Georgian Bay.  Being a turtle lover, he parked his car and scooped up the turtle who had withdrawn into his shell.  The shell was cracked in a few places so he took it home and put some tape on the shell to secure it.  Then he called the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre in Peterborough, ON to see what he should do next.  They advised him that there was a pick-up point in nearby Midhurst at a vet clinic that would check out the turtle and then have it transported to Peterborough by a volunteer driver.

A few months later, he got a call that the turtle was ready for pick-up before it got too cold.  So on a warm October morning, we headed out to Peterborough and easily found the turtle rescue centre.  And there was our turtle all healed and healthy.  We took a short tour of the centre and learned that injured turtles are x-rayed for fractures and to see if there are eggs.  If the turtle can’t be saved, the eggs will be harvested and incubated.  Inside plastic tubs we saw dozens of baby snapping, stinkpot, map and painted turtles.  The centre also has an education program to help promote turtle conservation and stewardship and a very large snapping turtle who is an ambassador at community events.

                                                                        Baby Snapping turtle

My partner was so taken by the work that this centre is doing that he wanted to help in some way. So we began to plan for a Turtle Benefit Concert to raise money for the centre.  As we searched for songs about turtles, we discovered that there weren’t too many so we had to write some turtle lyrics for existing songs and we were inspired to write a song as well.  A friend had also written a turtle song so he was part of the team. We found lots of poems about turtles and decided to include poems, songs and stories about turtles.  A friend let us use her house concert venue and other friends agreed to be readers. 

                                                                  Snapping turtle laying eggs

We wanted the medium to be the message.  We wanted to create a fun experience of people co-creating the event so those attending would be invited to sing along with some songs, join with percussion instruments and share turtle stories.  One friend, who is a wood carver, carved a turtle to be raffled off.  My partner auctioned off a jar of maple syrup he had made this spring.  We gave away milkweed and wild flower seeds that people could plant in their yards for butterflies and bees.

From the windows of the house where the concert took place, people could see the sun going down on Georgian Bay from where the turtles would begin coming to shore in a month or so, to lay their eggs.  Our hostess took turns reading and playing her hand drum.  One small girl had brought along her own drum and happily drummed along with most of the music.  We took turns singing songs, passing the African djembe back and forth and playing electric, acoustic and classical guitars, a cittern, banjo and a turtle shaped kalimba or thumb piano.

                                                            Nick playing the turtle shaped kalimba

As the evening progressed, it occurred to me that all the voices and music in the house mirrored the complex ecosystem out in the bay where turtles, frogs, fish, insects, geese, swans, ducks, deer, moose, beavers, otters and mink all co-exist.  We shared soup, tea, candy turtles and cheese, made some new friends, laughed and relaxed.  We raised hundreds of dollars for the turtle centre and raised awareness about protecting this important reptile. And we had fun!

I was struck by what emerged when the ground was set for co-creation.  A number of surprises occurred as people responded to the event and their creativity was released.  People suddenly made connections and ideas that they shared with the group.  Some musicians showed up on the spur of the moment to share their songs.  One woman reminded us that we were on traditional Chippewayan land and that Sky Woman fell to earth and made her home on the back of a turtle.  That is why the land we live on is called Turtle Island.

                                                                      Map turtle in Georgian Bay

We had sung songs about turtles and other animals, stars in the night sky and the moon over the prairies.  When we left late that evening, there was the moon, shining brightly overhead with Jupiter by her side and a multitude of stars twinkling in the dark sky. We stood and took it all in.  It was like the walls of the house hadn't really existed.  Our creative sharing was connected to the creativity in the lake, on the shore and above us. 

The words of poet Mary Oliver’s The Turtle still rang in my head;

Crawling up the high hill,
luminous under the sand that has packed against her skin.
she doesn't dream
she knows
she is a part of the pond she lives in,
the tall trees are her children,
the birds that swim above her
are tied to her by an unbreakable string.

And we knew, we remembered in that moment that we were and are a part of this universe we live in.

And by the way, our little Painted turtle was released in the wetland near the highway where he was found.  He is now adorned with a painted number on his shell so we may even recognize him if our path crosses again with our turtle teacher.