The snail party is underway, both of my pizzas have been devoured. It’s a quiet, almost studious group, five people (plus me) who are genuinely fascinated by snails.

Maria read from some of her snail books (and an octopus book) and it was interesting to see people sit quietly and just watch snails be snails.

Our dogs went to sleep just a few feet from the party (we set up a table for the food) and Zinnia has an old soul quality about her, she greeted everybody and then went to sleep. When I came into my study to post an update, she came in with me.

We have a kind of psychic connection now, much as I had with Red. Rose was a very different kind of dog, she wanted to be with me when I worked, but I didn’t even know where she slept for several years, and it was never too close to me.

Once I put my boots and jacket on, she was stuck to me like glue, saving my hide too many times to count. There is no dog like Rose. Or Red. Or Zinnia, for that matter. It feels as if we have been together for many years.

It was a sweet gather, lovely and easy. I had this sensation that as the only man present, I might be disrupting things a bit, I’ve noticed over the years that a man can wreck a gathering of women easily, some women are just not at ease around men.

So I went in and out, cooking and bringing the food, clearing plates, bringing drinks, leaving Maria free to just be with  her friends.

It was a lovely idea, the snail party, a gathering of people who love nature and rarely get to talk about it with one another. Women like this might just save the earth.