When I was a kid I remember going to this swanky indoor mall area that held various doctors’ offices.  It had live plants everywhere and indoor fountains which sprang up and trickled down through a series of pools lined by rocks.  In the center of the court were two sweeping white marble open spiral staircases.  I remember it vividly although I am not quite sure how many times I went or even why.  After my child was born I found myself having to return.  It was like time stood still; absolutely nothing had changed.  Memories at once intense and ephemeral I cannot quite explain came flooding back:  space and time seemed frozen.  I have to go now every six months to have my skin looked at after having a couple of “suspicious mole” scares and surgeries.  About once a year my little one comes with me.  I remember the last time she went she was afraid of the big turtle who has lived inside the mall forever.  Actually wasn’t scared of it; rather she was reticent to climb it.  She was so tiny then and it had seemed so huge.  This year as we wound our way up the familiar marble staircase holding hands she shrieked, “HEY!  I REMEMBER this place!!!”  (She would have been three the last time she visited.)  Then she asked if she could go see the turtle after my doctor’s visit.  Thankfully there was no cutting this time and I left in one piece.  The next thing I know my little one had scrambled without hesitation up the same turtle I had played on so many years ago.  So this picture is special to me.  The cycle of life repeated on Mother Turtle’s back: she is the symbol of longevity.  American chemist James Bryant Conant once said, “Behold the turtle.  He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”  My little one stuck her neck out and conquered the turtle just as I remember finally doing when I was a kid.  As we get older I think we tend to stay in our own shell more and more.  It seems safer, familiar, and comfortable.  I believe I shall endeavor to make progress in my life and stick my neck out more often.  Who knows what I might discover.