Clark saw a toy he wanted.  He asked if he could earn some money to buy that toy.  John told him that if he picked snails out of our gardens, he’d give him 5 cents a snail.  The snails here act like they’re at a gourmet buffet, munching on our plants.

While Clark was searching for snails, we had a short cloud burst.  That Really brought the snails out.  They love the water and often leave the plants to slide across the sidewalks, taking in the moisture.  That made for some easy pickins for Clark.

This is perhaps my favorite video of the kids so far this summer:

Of course we always think of Aunt Berta when we see snails here.  While she lived next door in the Farm House, she kept snails as pets.  She had dozens of them, each named and loved.  She kept them in bug aquariums.  She bathed and fed them.  She let them crawl on her arms.  She loved them.  We figure these snails are the great-grandchildren of Berd’s pets.  They multiply faster than we can get rid of them.  We put snail bait down, we poison them, we do all we can to eradicate them, but they Keep Coming.

Today’s batch went into the green waste dumpster.  We saved them from death, for now.

Clark even popped down into the window well of my sewing room to find more.  Today’s harvest was more than 250 snails.  He’ll need to find a few more to earn enough to buy the stuffed animal toy he’s got his eye on.  Go Clark!!

After all that work, we retreated to the fort Clark built in the basement to read some books.  It was a stellar day for this young man!