“We all know the story — She said — when asked ‘what does the World Turtle rest on?’ ‘Another turtle‘ — And the neckbeard queries further ‘And what does that turtle stand on?’ ‘Why I suppose, it’s turtles all the way down’ she replies“
“Being the antiauthoritarian I am — I’d have put a kibosh on the whole joke of infinite regress and its dark-humored mirror of infinite progress and said ‘No it’s not turtles all the way down — they’re not tortoises after all — They need water — and so the substrate of infinite turtles — the aether as it were — is water all the way down — and to the side — and in certain panicked situations — all the way up’ — But I wasn’t there — so I didn’t”
“After Tortoise-time
there is Turtle-time”
“Not branching but parallel evolutions”
“Above us — the Great Tortoise walks across the sky — carrying the sun — when we are lucky — we see the prints of their knobby feet and the woosh of their Mesozoic tail”
“On cloudy days — when we listen — The Great Turtle —
“Will look up — and call to their cousin — in a language you can’t understand”
“Together they sing ‘Turtles and Tortoises were meant to be all the way up
and all the way down — Tortoises and Turtles were meant to see
all the way up! All the way down! And side to side! Under and over! Inside and out! All the way up! All the way down!’ (Repeat until Tortoise takes the sun down and Turtle takes the waves up and their voices fade to a between sounds hush”
