Snail Memories

This morning I went for a walk in the rain with Asher. I am taking care of a dog, a cat, and a WHOLE lot of fish, for the the lady I visit teach, and her house is just down the street. It was such a beautiful morning and the smell of the rain was amazing. I was pushing Asher down the sidewalk and saw two huge snails right in the middle of the sidewalk.

Seeing them gave me a sense of nostalgia, and I remembered that when I was younger I use to LOVE snails. We lived in a little townhouse in Murray and I was about 6 years old. I would spend hours searching our backyard and the yards of our neighbors for snails that I put in a big peanut butter jar. I had a big collection and I loved to watch them and poke their little antennae so they would shrivel up. I even tried to make a business out of my snail obsession. The little old lady down the street, who had a beautiful garden, paid me 1 penny for each snail I escorted off her premise in my peanut butter jar. I became the host and announcer for "snail racing", in which my brother and I (and other neighborhood children) would set our snails against each other and make bets on whose snail would cross the chalk line first. I have lots of memories of squatting on the porch for a long time, urging stray snails to go in straight lines. I don't ever remember seeing our snails finish a race.

These memories flashed through my mind this morning when I stumbled across the snails. For just a moment I remembered what it felt like to be a little girl. I remembered the unbound wonder that I felt at the simplest things, and the great joy that a peanut butter can full of snails can bring. I remembered what it felt like to discover something new, and I remembered that the world is remarkably simple. There is beauty, joy and miracles all around me, sometimes it just takes opening my eyes at little bit wider, slowing down a little bit more, and paying attention to the small things in this world. Thank you snails.