I saved* a worm on the sidewalk today.

It was super dried out and moving just enough that I thought it could recover if it was moved to some moist soil, so I picked him up and put him in the cool, shaded soil under a bush near the sidewalk.

Why does this matter?

Back when I was a kid (early elementary school) I was known as the “worm saver” because I would always use my recess time following a rainstorm to go around and make sure the worms out on the sidewalk weren’t going to get stepped on/drowned in a puddle/dried out once it got sunny and hot again. One of my teachers even gave me a necklace with a little pendant of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, because of how often I was out trying to make sure the worms would be safe.

Anyway. It’s been a while since I saved a worm, and doing so today kinda brought me back to elementary school.

*Not sure if I actually saved him. Certainly made it a lot less likely he’d get stepped on, at least.