Turtles were then and still are my animal "other," the one with whom I feel a special connection, a special empathy. Whenever I see the peculiar shape of a turtle — the humped back and stretched-out neck — even just the shadow of it or from a distance down a road, I feel a visceral reaction: my attention is immediately and totally riveted on it. Peculiar? Perhaps, but a witness to the power of the first naivete, to the bond with the natural world characterized by curiosity, fascination, wonder, and attention that can awaken in a child and continue, albeit in different forms, throughout life.
— Sallie McFague, Super, Natural Christians