Periwinkle

These shots (along with Friday's) were taken from the public landing at the end of Town Point Landing road just below the Court House.

That public landing used to be a prime place from which to view submarine races back in the day.  Not that I personally know anything about any of that; it was just common knowledge.

Moving right along.

Those little creatures clinging to the reeds of grass are periwinkle snails, which are very common around here.

Of course, we never called them periwinkles when we were kids.  They were just snails.  And they were a source of amusement, believe it or not.  I remember sitting down along the shoreline staring intently at them for hours on end, there was nothing else to do around here an inordinate amount of time.

What kind of a kid finds amusement staring at snails?  Probably the same sort of person who finds great joy in wearing a crab hat, would be my guess. One thing's for sure, this person is a tad off kilter, if not bizarre very easily entertained.

According to my BFF Wikipedia, periwinkles were introduced to the Atlantic coast of North America possibly by rock ballast in the mid-19th century.

Another site stated that they are among the few sea creatures which breathe air, and their name comes from the Old English "penny winkle," since you could buy them for a penny per handful or two pennies per pound.

According to this site, they are believed to climb the marsh grass to avoid predators such as the blue crab.

I wonder if I could get any sort of reaction out of them by wearing my crab hat down by the shoreline? Guess who's just silly enough to try?

Last but not least, whenever I see the word "periwinkle" I think of the Crayola crayons shade of blue. Aside from staring at snails, coloring was a big activity in the Chesapeake Bay Family household. One of my favorite shades was cornflower blue.

This concludes our brief look at how little there was to do around here as a kid periwinkles.

Have a great day.