Yes, I'm a Weirdo

            It’s been a pretty rainy spring here in Montana. I don’t mind it. A dry spring here usually means a bad summer for wild fires. There is just one thing about spring rains that I dislike and have had to face several times already this year: worms. I don’t find worms disgusting or a nuisance as they cover all walking surfaces after it rains, but I actually find it a bit distressing.

            It usually starts with me heading out to grab the newspaper in the morning or leave for work:

            “Oh no, a worm!” on the walkway and I scoop it up and toss it into the grass.

            “Uh oh, another one” a little farther away and into the grass he flies.

            “Oh crap, another one” as I get to the driveway and see more wiggly lines and a bunch more already dead.

             *Big sigh* as I snatch up the newspaper and go back into the house without looking down.

            I’m not sure why it bothers me to see worms on the sidewalk but it has ever since I was a kid. Of course I now understand the biological reasons for it and why the rain encourages them to come out of the ground. I guess I just don’t like the thought that they may be suffering.

            I know everything happens for a reason and I’m sure there’s much more to this whole process than I understand. And yes, I know they’re “just worms”. I always think about how many of them there would be if a bunch didn’t die after each rainstorm. That’s too many worms. After the first few rainy days of the year, I just learn not to look down much at a wet sidewalk.