Ugliness and beauty
Snails are not beautiful. Fish, most people agree, are. Especially neon rainbow fish. The problem with fish is that while swimming around in the water and doing their stuff, growing and all that, they cause the water to go all horrid and murky – so that in the end one can’t any longer appreciate the beauty of their illuminated bodies streaking through the water. The answer seemed very unlikely, though I was unable to resist the suggestion. Ten-year-old boys can be very persuasive. The result was (and remains) almost miraculous. For over 6 weeks we haven’t had to change the smelly and opaque water of the fish tank. More than that, the snails have (in the words of Simon) ‘given off’ babies. The originals remain ugly, the infants appear ‘cute’ and the water remains clear!

It made me wonder whether this is a good reason to joyfully tolerate those things in life which are less than ideal. They may serve a purpose which here is obscure, but hereafter will be revealed. Perhaps, after all, we wouldn’t be able to see outside of our tank if it were not for the ugly snails we have to rub shoulders with…..