Can It Be Done? What Does Google Say?

A Turtle named Tracker was on the way to visit his good friend Raymond, an Owl. The two, as always, were very excited to see each other especially since Tracker was visiting Raymond’s new home for the first time.

Raymond was a first-time home buyer and was able to lock in a great mortgage back when rates were so low. Despite, in Raymond’s opinion, slightly overpaying for his home during an overheated housing market the Owl figured it was an overall good investment for the long term.

Raymond was busy tidying up his home for his friend to come see. There was an afternoon charcuterie board laid out, a few bottles of wine, and the two friends’ favorite French jazz album playing on the turntable.

When Tracker finally arrived at Raymond’s new home he quickly noticed a problem - Raymond’s house was way high up in a tree, at the end of a long branch, and there were no stairs.

“Hey! Raymond!” Tracker called up, “What the hell man?”

“What do you mean what the hell man?” Raymond yelled down, stepping out onto his porch.

“I mean, how the hell am I going to get up to your house? I can’t fly!” Shouted Tracker.

“Just walk up the trunk, can’t you climb?” Raymond asked.

“Of course, I can’t climb! I’ve never climbed a day in my life!” Tracker shot back.

“Are you sure? I thought I read somewhere that you can climb, it’s just rare to see” Raymond responded, "Hang on, let me google it."

“Why do you need to Google it? What are you even going to google? 'Can turtles climb?'" Tracker scoffed.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to google," Raymond answered, "And I don't appreciate your tone, old friend!"

"What do you think Google is going to tell you about me that I don't already know about myself!" Tracker countered. "It's not like google is going to..."

"AH HA!" Raymond exclaimed, "It says right here, 'in short, yes, turtles can climb trees and do so often in the wild."

Tracker was dumbstruck. How did he not know this about himself? The whole time Tracker had been alive he just assumed that he couldn't climb things which, in an instant, turned out to be a complete lie.

"Well?" Raymond continued, "Are you coming up or what?"

"Give me a minute!" Tracker responded, "I'm having a moment here!"

Perhaps Tracker had been holding himself back all these years. He had never even so much as attempted to climb anything because he assumed that, well, he couldn't. What wasted time. What wasted life. One that's so short with so much to experience, only to learn that even more was possible to experience than he ever even thought possible.

"Hurry up!" Raymond yelled down, "The cold cuts are getting warm!"

Raymond is right, thought Tracker. After all this time wasted not climbing things, it was time to hurry up.

Tracker approached the tree and looked up at what would be his very first climb. He put one foot on the tree, then the next one, then he lifted his back foot and finally he lifted the last foot off the ground as well.

He was doing it. He was climbing. What a beautiful day.

"I'm doing it!" Tracker yelled up to Raymond, "I'm climbing! Thank you, Raymond! Thank you for showing me what I was capable of!"

"You got it, buddy! Get on up here I got a wonderful spread for when you finally make it up your first climb!"

Tracker continued to climb, one foot, then the next, then the next then, then the next, and so on.

Raymond watched his buddy doing something new for the first time and was genuinely proud of him. Though he was reminded, sure, turtles can climb, but they are quite slow. Tucker was making very minimal progress with every step. It would take at least another 15-20 minutes before Tucker even made it to the branch Raymond's house was on. Perhaps some stairs or an elevator wouldn't be such a bad idea in the future. Good thing he already locked in that great mortgage.