Tortoise Walk

"The only thing you have to watch out for are the Tortoises"

Wait, the what?
And I give him a puzzled look
I'm a country boy
But not from the desert

"The Mojave Tortoise,"
He explains
"It's protected, and that's why the hot rod club stopped using this property
The animal rights groups were giving them too much grief
And it didn't help when they did actually run over a few of them one weekend during speed runs"

I just kind of stared out at the long stretch of desert
Eight hundred acres
With a semi prepared stretch almost two miles long
A couple concrete pads near the road
I can sort of picture the set up

I'll put my trailer on that one there
And my portable hangar on that one
Oh yes
I like this
And the price is right

The salesman is still trying to sell me

"Of course there is no reason you can't use the property for whatever you wish
As long as precautions are taken for the tortoise population
Some sort of written protocol you'd submit to the Chamber of Commerce
To let them know that you are concerned"

"Low altitude speed record"

I blurt out the lie before I can think about it

"I'm going to modify an airplane and try for the low altitude speed record"

Fortunately, in this neck of the desert, that doesn't even raise an eyebrow

"Well okay then, might I recommend what I saw a group do last year?
They did their little letter to the Chamber
And said they'd do a 'Tortoise Walk' before every run down the track
You can cheat and do it in a vehicle very slowly
Which will probably be something you'd do anyways
Wouldn't want to hit a tortoise with your plane I wouldn't think
They do get pretty big sometimes"

I hear what he's saying, and I'm making mental notes
Although, in the back of my mind
I have a kind of little kid joy
At the thought of having 'pet' tortoises on the property

"Lets do one right now, do you mind?"

I ask the realtor hopefully

He laughs, and turns to walk back to his truck

"Sure thing, you can see most of the property along the way too"

And so I find myself in the realtor's old Ford Bronco
Rolling at about ten miles per hour across the desert
The wide speed run area standing out from the surrounding scrub
Mostly because of it's lack of bushes and cactus
Though there are numerous rocks and small plants starting to poke up
It hasn't been maintained in about six years

We are chatting about the sad housing market
When I see it
About twenty yards away
It looks like a dusty rock
But it's moving slowly

"Stop, stop, I see one!"
I say excitedly

He hits the brakes and I'm out the door
Trotting over to the tortoise

I get down on my belly in the desert dirt
I stare at the turtle
The turtle stops walking
And stares at me

We regard each other for a minute

The turtle starts walking again
Going wherever it is that he was planning on going

I get up on my knee and brush most of the dirt off

When I turn back to the truck
The realtor is leaning against his fender
Smoking a cigarette and looking at me like I'm loony
I walk back to him laughing

"That was so cool!"

I tell him

He shakes his head

"You are the first person that I've ever had do that"

I shake his hand

"I'll take it"