Common Periwinkle

Common Periwinkle

Consider the common periwinkle.  It lives a life relatively invisible to humans, unless you happen to be on the coast in New England anyway.  Even then most people wouldn’t think anything of these creatures.  And why not?  The Common Periwinkle lives a modest life fixed to rocks or marsh grass, scarping and eating algae and hoping not to be eaten by predators.

The Periwinkle (let’s drop the common, shall we?) is a survivor.  Its foot clings to rocks as waves crash and swirl around and on top of it.  At low tide they’re exposed to extreme temperatures.  At high tide they’re underwater for hours at a time, all while whelks, fish and even humans hunt you down to eat you.  At low tide I’ve accidentally stepped on periwinkles, and honestly a feel a little sad about it.  Life is a strange thing, and it’s easy to feel small in this world that we live in, looking out at the universe.  And yet the periwinkle offers a little perspective.  We’re small, but there are many creatures smaller than us.  Life can be challenging at times, but hey, I’m not clinging to a rock getting battered by waves while I scrape off my algae meal.

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