Are earthworms vital for the world’s existence? This was a thought that popped into my head while walking to class one morning. It was raining, and the sidewalks were covered with puddles and rain-soaked earthworms. Some of these worms were still trudging their way to their earthy underground dwelling places, while others were far less fortunate, squished and severed by the feet of college students attempting to get out of the rain.

So there I was, attempting to avoid stepping on the seemingly endless number of worms on the sidewalk, and I wondered about the important question stated above. I began thinking about how I should totally write down my thought process about these worms, but that didn’t seem exactly like a paper-worthy story. Or really an anything-worthy story, I guess. But, a blog? Hey, that could work. A blog solely for the purpose of babbling on about random things… Sounds great. So here we are. Well, hopefully it’s “we” and not just me. But if it is just me, I’m sure I’ll still have a grand time.

Anyhoo, let’s learn about earthworms. Did you know that there’s an Earthworm Society of Britain? If not, don’t worry. I didn’t either. But now we both know. And it’s pretty awesome.

According to their site, “Earthworms play an important role in breaking down dead organic matter in a process known as decomposition… Decomposition releases nutrients locked up in dead plants and animals and makes them available for use by living plants. Earthworms do this by eating organic matter and breaking it down into smaller pieces allowing bacteria and fungi to feed on it and release the nutrients.”

The University of Illinois also had some pretty cool things to say about worms on one of their pages, comparing them to “free farm help.” They also mentioned how worms are great fishing bait, but that seems kind of anti-save-the-earthworms-by-not-stepping-on-them, so I’ll just gloss over that part.

Basically, earthworms are awesome, because they help plants grow. And while I’m certainly not going to start a rally for saving the earthworms, just remember that while you trek to class or work or wherever it is you’re going, some other trekkers (perhaps a bit more segmented and slimy) are trying to get to their destination as well.

And so, what better way could I begin my trek on my official blog than by talking about worms?