Wild Worm-Chase

While I managed to accomplish a lot of things during the weekend, perhaps the most significant was my success in acquiring earthworms for my daughter's science project.
 
After you say "eww," which, believe me, I have countless times, understand how hard it is to find earthworms in New York City in the middle of winter. The pursuit has fairly well consumed me for the past two weeks, with trips to pet stores, and calls to fishing stores, emails to friends, and Internet searches in multiple directions. I could have mail ordered, but at the cost of $20, plus $20 or more shipping (they are alive, you know, so it has to be express mail), for a quantity far above what we needed, I just couldn't stomach it. (Okay, I can't quite stomach the whole thing, but I guess I was asleep when the project was approved in our household).
 
So, local it would be, and by Friday, I'd found an ecology group that would sell me worms at a weekly green market. Problem solved, right? Except the worms were stolen before I ever got there. Stolen worms? Yup.
 
Long story short (okay, not so short), we acquired just about the right number of worms at a fish store just a bus ride away, a place found on yet another Internet search, the last ditch effort before I gave up and mail ordered, shipping and all.
 
And the moral of the story? Well there a few. Don't sleep through the decisions that will have ramifications for you down the road. Try not to let the little things consume you. And when the little things do consume you, know that they can be conquered, if you keep at it. Even if it means going on a few wild worm-chases.