8 Comments

From Nicole in New Jersey:

I was in my garden yesterday and the worms were fat and happy in the compost pile. One of the smells that I remember from my childhood was "worm bedding". My dad had a styrofoam cooler in the garage with grey mossy mats in it. We would go out and pick night crawlers for fishing trips with my mom's sister. I was always squeamish about baiting the hook because I was convinced it hurt the worms. The smell was damp and earthy, the musty smell of new dirt from vegetation decay. Side note: For anyone who composts, your pile should not smell bad or attract vermin. It needs a mix of green and brown to cook. Too much green and you get that rotten smell. It should smell like the scent of a forest floor.

Expand full comment

I will forever think of the worm flying through the air, and wonder what its experience was really like as it flew high then plummeted back to earth.

Expand full comment

I know, right? It was so strange.

Expand full comment

Damn, Darwin always stealing my book titles. (The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, With Observations on Their Habits.) Now what am I going to call mine!!!!!

Expand full comment

Honest to goodness while writing this I said to myself, "I bet Edith will enjoy this." My favorite bit is the part about the piano: When placed on a table close to the keys of a piano, which was played as loudly as possible, they remained perfectly quiet.

Expand full comment

Lol, yes. Like, what are they going to do? Shriek? Sing along? All possibilities are pretty great. Everything about this experiment is great.

Expand full comment

I kind of pictured them dancing a little bit, tapping their heads in time.

Expand full comment

"Yeah... yeah! That's the stuff!!"

Expand full comment