Snails

Every day, on our walk to school, we look out for snails. The first thing we discuss when we leave the house is how many snails we might see that day, based on the weather and our recent sightings. For a while there was one yard where we'd see dozens of them. Then they moved down the street and attached themselves to a neighbor's stairs. Lately they seem to have disappeared.

Today, K paused in front of a house. "Oh, a crack in the sidewalk!" he said. "Cracks in the sidewalk are good hiding places for snails. Let's look and see if we can find any."

We looked, but we didn't find any snails.

K was disappointed, but not surprised. "I think the snails have gone away for the winter," he said. "Maybe they are -- what's that word that means sleeping, Mommy?" "Hibernating." "Yes, hibernating."

Once in a while, when we have conversations like this, all I can think of is how two years ago his speech consisted of "Bah" and "Gah".