Snails are near to my heart. They have fascinated me for most of my life; when I was twelve, I stumbled upon some snail eggs in the yard. I placed the soft pale eggs in a jar with some dirt and watched tiny snails emerge, each with a translucent golden shell. They were beautiful! They explored their jar habitat with their stubby little eye stalks curiously pricked forward to take it all in. My twelve-year-old mind instantly related to these seemingly alien lifeforms. I felt like I was just like those snails, doing my best to learn everything I could about the world around me.
When I first met my husband-to-be on a dating site, I used a snail in my online profile to express my desire to take things slow and really get to know each other before leaping into anything. Nick connected with me on so many levels, including this goal. We kept our relationship at a “snail’s pace,” to the joy of both of us. Ultimately, we chose snails as the theme for our wedding.






This is not a snail drawing, but another invertebrate amongst the succulents – a pink crab spider!