Rollie Pollies Are Smart!

  I was pondering something today.  With all of the stress that has been suddenly added to my life (ailing family member and aging dog being the most prevalent), I figure I should seek some sort of refuge where I can escape now and again.  It does not necessarily have to be some exotic place or even some faraway place.  It just needs to be a "me" place where I can close myself off from the worries of the world for a few hours.  This would allow me to regroup and face dilemmas with a renewed energy.  I need the proverbial "she shed".  I really, really need this!  A place like that would be ideal as I could literally run and hide. The shed could come equipped with a sign that says something to the manner of "No One Allowed!"  It then occurred to me that some critters have built in "she sheds" where they escape from the reality facing them.

  Armadillos were the first critter that I thought of when I was thinking "portable she shed".  These critters can roll up in a little ball and escape whatever is not to their liking.  Of course, my mind wanders a lot so I started thinking how pill bugs are so like armadillos.  The ones around here even have reference to that in their big, ole fancy name Armadillidium Vulgare!  I have always (like most folks) just called them Rollie Pollies!  It is a much easier name to remember and, well, I need easy things to remember at my age.

  Rollie Pollies are actually crustaceans that have made the trek to land and decided that it suited them fine.  So..there they stayed.  They feast upon rotting vegetation and roam about the place unnoticed...at least until something wants to eat them.  Then, they roll up in a tiny ball hoping the predator will either lose interest and go away or have trouble eating them.  When things start to get a bit rough, I am going to roll up and hide! Sounds good.  Real good.