Puzzle #1: Races And Wild Rides

Turtles are fascinating creatures. Do you remember that old story about the turtle and the rabbit having a race? The rabbit is sure he'll win, because the turtle is such a tediously slow and monotonous creature. But the turtle wins because slow and steady is better than fast yet unreliable. And that is certainly true; if you had a choice between someone you knew was going to be slow, but was sure to get the job done, wouldn't you choose that person over the one who starts out going leaps and bounds but then gets distracted and never finishes whatever it was he was supposed to be doing in the first place? 

Speaking of monotonous yet reliable, I was just thinking recently that, although everyone seems so excited about the best and latest and greatest cars on the market, I just can't seem to get myself excited about cars. I mean, I drive a Mercury Tracer. Not the most thrilling and exciting vehicle on the market, but it certainly gets me where I need to go, and gives me great gas mileage. And these days, gas mileage is a pretty important feature in a car. So I'll take my tediously monotonous little Tracer over any wild ride that's out there today.

Speaking of wild rides, can you imagine what it would have been like to be on Apollo 13? You know, the moon mission that was supposed to do a lunar landing in April of 1970, but had to cancel their landing and return home because of a malfunction? Everyone always wonders what it must have been like to be one of those astronauts up there desperate to get home...but you know what I wonder? 

I wonder...what was it like for the wives and the children of those astronauts, wondering if they would ever make it home again? Being able to do nothing but sit andlisten to every news broadcast, every report coming in, but not able to do anything else. They say listening is better than talking, and that's why God gave us two ears and just one mouth. But I think I'd scream if I was in that situation and had nothing I could do to to help, but had to just sit, and wait, and listen! 

Anyway, that's what I wonder. But probably you're wondering something completely different. You're probably wondering what in the world do a turtle, a car, the moon, and an ear have in common? 

And that, my friend, is a wonderful question. I shall leave you with that question now. The answer, believe it or not, is just one single word...