Broken Snail Shells

My itsy-bitsy fishpond (4 feet wide and 3 feet deep), like all fishponds, gets mucky when the water warms up in the summer. Several years ago, i bought a "pond cleaner package" from a pond supply company, consisting of snails and some pond vegetation.  The vegetation didn't live long, but my little pond has hundreds of snails. And now that the weather is warming up, the pond is growing that long green algae "hair" along the sides. So much for the snails cleaning things up.

The raccoons, however, are cleaning up on the snails. Perhaps i should say "escargot." Every morning when i feed the fish, i see 4 or 5 broken snail shells without their occupants.

The snails' shells are non-descript black with algae growing on them. The broken shells are iridescent and fascinating. Those snails live in beautiful homes, i must say.

We can live in a beautiful mind. We already know what the gunky mind feels like and sounds like. The beautiful mind is kind and compassionate. The beautiful mind is patient and generous.

Let's live there, even if we are in difficult circumstances.