Roly Poly

I've always loved roly-polys. Ever since I was little.

I remember sitting on my grandmother's front walkway, seeing them crawl all over the place. I used to like touching them just enough so they'd roll up in balls. I would never squash them like most kids, just give them a nudge or two.

They're all over the place right now. Crawling on the concrete patch where the dumpster sits outside my apartment. I haven't thought about roly-polys in a long time, until recently.

Today, when I took Penny outside, I realized for the first time how bad it would suck to be a roly-poly. All they do is crawl around, roll up in balls and occasionally get stuck on their back. I saw one this morning in that position. So I rolled him over. He scurried off to do God knows what.

According to Wikipedia, they don't even have any known predators. Ants don't even want to eat them. Imagine living only in dark, damp places, not having anyone who wants you.

Funny how what used to amaze you as a kid now seems sad, in a way.