i'll spare you many of the bizarre and complex details. in short, i'll just explain that Layla's class was assigned a project where each student was charged with the task of creating an ecosystem. an ecosystem is defined as "a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment." sooo...here it is, $35 dollars in, after two trips to the pet store, this is day one of fish living with snails and rooted plants with floating plants all within a jar filled with "aged" water. there are lots of flaws to this project, in my opinion, both in the design and execution of a successful ecosystem that has any real potential to last. perhaps this is why i've dubbed it the "project of death"....but as i said, i won't get into it too much here, cuz hey, the pictures are cute. all four were entertained for many minutes staring into the jar and watching the fish and snails adapt to their new home, for however long or short :( that may be....ahem...
even since this picture was taken, we are down one member of our "thriving" ecosystem. we started with five happy little fish, and now there are four hearty ones remaining. imagine my horror one evening when i walked by the counter, stared into the jar as i often do (i've grown a wee bit attached to these rascals), and had to do a re-count and another re-count to confirm my worst suspicions. yes, we were down a fish...i scoured the bottom and sure enough, there among the shoots of the rooted plant, lay the poor little fish belly up and perfectly still with a sort of glazed-eye look that oddly seemed to lock gaze with mine. i dreaded the thought of telling Layla, and then there was the whole process of "retrieving" it from the bottom. how was i going to do that? with a serving spoon? applied suction from a turkey baster? well, i thought about it for a bit, only to have the decision taken right out of my hands a few hours later when i walked past again to see the large snail consuming the fish slowly and methodically right before my piercing eyes. i couldn't believe it. this was the most "real" part of the ecosystem i'd seen so far. the brutal realities of aquatic life i suppose. i broke the news gently to Layla the next morning. she took it well.
two days later, early on a school day i came out to the kitchen to make coffee. first things first, right? i glanced at the jar, as always, and to my horror discovered the large snail was literally MIA, gone from the jar, nowhere to be found. and this snail is large~ approximately the size of a ping pong ball. there's no way you wouldn't see it. i had a moment of brief perplexing panic, wondering why this ecosystem had gotten so twisted, so fast. i slid the jar over a bit to realize the snail had decided to escape through the night. there he was, inside his shell, opening facing up, appearing lifeless right there on my kitchen counter. i repeat, on my kitchen counter...nice....without a second to waste i grabbed a sheet of Bounty and scooped the poor fella up and gently plopped him back into his homemade ecosystem. i wished him well, but feared the worst. it's almost as if this snail is super intelligent and knows the future is bleak~ he was making a run for it while there was still time...as i sanitized my counter, i saw small signs that Mr. Snail might be okay after all. the smaller white snail literally approached, and something that may have been CPR occurred, and before i even began making breakfast the larger snail was back to exploring the jar, slow but sure as snails seem to do...from that moment on~ we make sure the lid is on!
good times!! even still, this will be a project i want to remember a decade from now, or even six months from now at the rate my memory is going. i suspect Layla will enjoy this memory too one day.
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