Snail Mail

Perhaps I am a bit old fashioned,

but I like to send mail,

...real mail,

the kind that is hand written

in my own handwriting

with my favorite black pen

on stationery or cards which sport designs

that share in the expression

of the message, the occasion,

or the personality of the recipient.

In recent years, this mode of correspondence

has been christened “Snail Mail”,

likely because it moves from sender to receiver

much more slowly than any other form of communication

our rapid information exchanging world has to offer.

Consider the Snail…

Remember when you were a kid

and you happened to notice as you walked along the sidewalk

a little snail inching its way across to the green grass on the other side.

Did you stop to watch it,

to examine how its body contracted and relaxed in a pattern

similar to the way the muscles of your own throat moved when you swallowed?

Were you amazed at the amount of slime that one snail could produce

making its own little skating rink in order to protect its tender body

from the rough, scorching concrete?

Did you wonder how the shape of its shell

had such a beautifully intricate spiral pattern?

Did you feel sad when you put salt on the little guy

because your friend told you it would be fun… but it wasn’t?

Do you remember when you found an empty snail shell in the dirt,

and you picked it up and put it in your pocket.

Do you remember when, later on, you reached into your pocket 

to show off your treasure to your friend,

only to find shattered remnants?

Did you and your friend put two snails on a line for a race? 

Do you remember cheering your snail on to a victorious win,

then placing him into the grass as his reward?

Do you remember picking your snail up by the shell and holding him upside down

to watch his body recoil into the little house on his back? 

Did you sit down cross-legged on the grass and hold him for a really long time,

being ever so still,

waiting, for what seemed an eternity, for him to peek out?

Did you ever put a snail on your forearm?

Did you laugh as you watched him try to navigate the hairs that blocked his path?

God’s creation is worth the wait.

Steal some time to leisurely explore,

to examine,

to enjoy…

then write to tell someone all about it in a letter

………a real one.

~ae

“Be still and know that I am God… 

I will be exalted in the earth.”  

~Psalm 46:10

Here’s a fun link for all potential snail enthusiasts…

http://velvetdragon.com/cyberslugs/pets.html