Turtle time

Sy Montgomery, whose book about octopuses (The Soul of the Octopus) so enchanted me, does it again in Of Time and Turtles (2023).

Montgomery, who has also written about apes, hummingbirds, pigs and other animals, immerses herself in her subject and those who study it professionally for months at a time before writing her books. This time she embeds herself with the Turtle Rescue League, a small group dedicated to saving the lives of turtles.

Slow-moving turtles often need to cross roads and highways to get to their nesting sites or wherever, and many are struck by cars each day. Others are used for target practice by hunters and archers. Those in the rescue league don't give up on these injured turtles, even those who don't appear to have any chance at recovery. Turtles move slowly even in their healing process. They can heal, but it takes time. And time is something turtles have in abundance. They can live a long time and are in no hurry.

The author tells remarkable stories, such as about turtles who seem to be dead, yet come back to life. She describes the trial-and-error attempts to build a wheelchair for a turtle, whose inured back legs take a long time to heal. She goes on a long night-time rescue mission to save turtles caught in freezing weather.

All this takes place during the Covid pandemic and during the 2020 election, both of which become part of Montgomery's story, although sometimes just distractions. Turtle time, as she calls it, also leads her to philosophical meditations on time itself.

Delightful society

William Gladstone

"Books are delightful society," William Gladstone, the former British prime minister, said.

This seems to be a common thought among readers, perhaps especially readers who spend most of their time alone. Books can be companions, even friends. Just the other day I heard a man refer to his books as his friends. He didn't want to part with them.

Books can even be lovers. Faith Sullivan flirts with this idea in her novel Goodnight, Mr. Wodehouse, in which a widow takes a P.G. Wodehouse novel to bed with her every night. In a recent article in Oh Reader magazine, Melora Wolff writes, "My only lasting romance in life has been with books."

Books are something you can hold in your hand, when there is no other hand to hold. Books are something you can have a conversation with. They speak to you, and you can speak back, even if just in your mind.  And even familiar books can sometimes say something new to you. Books can be complicated, filled with many layers of meaning, just as another person can be.

Even sitting on a shelf for years at a time, a book can be companionable, especially if it is a book with fond memories attached.