Snails

I'm going to admit something... Ready?

I think snails are really cute. I'm not sure where this mindset came from but I have a guess.
When I was 4 I was in Master's Kids - The very first one - EVER. I still remember the song and even now, I'm singing it in my head. Here is the memory. We had a craft time. All of us kids were at a table. In front of us was a sheet of plain white paper. In the middle of the table there were Cool Whip containers. Inside the Cool Whip containers was a little bit of water with food coloring and snails! Our craft project was to pick the colors we wanted and put the snails on our piece of paper and let the snails make a trail of color. I wish I had a picture! Combine that with AGAPELAND!! Anyone? Anyone? I had a book (well I guess maybe a movie.. Mom? Which was it?) when I was growing up about Herbert the Snail.

Synopsis: Patience: In HurryTravel with Herbert the Snail and his family they go to the circus! During the trip, they talk about the exciting things they want to see. After they arrive, there is a long line for tickets! Some snails want to sneak in, but Herbert decides to be patient and wait his turn. All the snails learn waiting is the right thing. Two sing along songs on Patience are included in this touching episode.

(OR perhaps it was when I was a child and we were at my grandparents house and my dad showed me what happens when your pour salt on a snail.

OR maybe it was because I grew up with all boys and probably used a magnifying glass to scorch a snail inside it's shell in the late afternoon Southern California sunshine.

BUT I don't think so.)

Since then, of course, I've had many encounters with snails. I'm not an avid gardener and so I don't have plants that are being eaten alive by the snails, therefore, I have no reason to hate them. To me they are so simple. They carry their home on their back. They live off of flowers and leaves (and rabbit poo). They're plump and scoot slowly and lazily along.

I'm not very good at drawing so whenever someone asks me to draw something I usually end up drawing flowers and snails and bees.

What I'm saying is, snails just stick out to me. I notice them. Not just 'live' ones but snail things, too.

At Rooms n Blooms they have wrought iron snail pot holders. They come in large and small and I always thought those planters were the cutest thing. In Pasadena there is a fountain outside of a church that has -you guessed it- a snail in the middle of it. Every morning as I walk up the pathway to work the snails (of all sizes!!) are out in full force. Eating flowers (and rabbit poop).

Once Adam and I were out for a really long walk. Adam looks up when he walks I gaze down (I have a fear of tripping). We approached a snail. I said to Adam, "Watch out for the **CRUNCH** snail." He stepped on it, but not fully because I was in the middle of warning him. The snails shell was cracked, though. I was saddened. Adam thought the snail would be fine. I thought it would die a torturous death. I proceeded to force Adam to squish the snail completely since I didn't want the little guy to suffer and since we didn't have enough snail knowledge to know if they can repair damage to their shells. (FYI they can, but with a break as bad as this one we would have had to use manual intervention (keeping the snail in a humid place, making a plaster mixture to cover the crack/hole etc) and we were unable to do so. In light of that we went with a different form of manual intervention.)

I think snails would be cute to decorate a child's room with.