Retreat, retreat!

marine snails illustrate the power of retreat for finding comfort in nature

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Because this week was a little extra, I ran a little late - and also went looking for a little nature escape!¹

I climbed into some memories, and found what I was looking for among the swirling reminiscences of some of my favorite tide pools.

Tide pools hold a singular magic within the serenity of their world-within-a-world seclusion, buffered from the storms that rage outside the confines of their sheltered bounds. They are layered with life, tucked within the gentle folds of seaweed and sand.

It’s not lost on me that the marine creature that I most wanted to curl up and reminisce with was a snail. I mean, retreating back into the safety of a cozy fortress shell, and pulling the door shut tight behind until the storm has passed?

Yes, please, how nice!

That interesting little trap door feature is called an operculum. A wafer of golden iridescence which the snail pulls shut behind itself when it retreats into the safety of its spiral home.

This particular snail is a Common Periwinkle², an invasive non-native species that is incredibly abundant. They do not mind a crowd, and pile thickly into every available space.

When they travel, they form these really fantastic little snail highways through the sand. In the wake of a receding tide, you can follow the winding trails towards the waterline until you eventually catch up to the commuter at the end.

The funniest part is that other snails sometimes merge into established lanes, so you will occasionally find a rush-hour pileup of Common Periwinkles at the end of the road!

Rough Periwinkles are a smaller, native snail, and it’s just astonishing to me how this one snail species can come in such a variety of colors.

A single overcast day brought this entire colony of Rough Periwinkles out onto the granite shores, slowly scouring for algae in every shade of pink, lavender, gold, and green.

The Smooth Periwinkle is more like a tiny moon snail, formed in a flat spiral instead of a tower rising to a point. It’s a bit like a single droplet of sunshine on this vast rocky shore.

Their movements are so unhurried, so purely methodical, so gently single-minded in purpose. They are just snails, doing snail things, unconcerned about the rush-and-tumble comings-and-goings all around them.

Because anytime life comes at them too fast, they are ready at a moment’s notice to instantaneously retreat - schlurrp! - into their cozy fortress of a shell, and patiently wait for conditions to become more favorable.

Safety, comfort, refuge, only a sudden retreat away. Our lives are not exactly like that, of course. When life comes at us fast, we usually can’t just retreat until we’re happier with the way things look out there. But I still find a certain peace, and delight, and comfort in spending a few moments with these sweet little marine snails, with their endearing little lives, and their quirky little ways, and their absolutely charming little retreats. Schlurrp!

for more tide pool escapism

🌊

1. My husband had outpatient surgery on Monday to open up his nose. It went well, but you know, recovery is always a little extra!

2. https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/2016/07/19/three-kinds-periwinkles-live-in/27466916007/