22 August 2011

what are the chances?

barely awake this morning, sitting in my dentist's office waiting for my 7:30 a.m. appointment, i turned to part III of my current book and began to read. and was astounded to find myself reading about, of all things, snail's teeth!
...My snail possessed 2,640 teeth...the teeth point inward so as to give the snail a firm grasp on its food; with about 33 teeth per row and maybe eighty or so rows, they form a multi-toothed ribbon called a radula, which works much like a rasp.
what are the chances of reading about teeth while in a dentist's office?? so entertained was i by this bit of happenstance, i had to share the humor with the hygienist. i also left a photocopy of the pages in question with the assistant who checked me out before i left. you must give it to the dentist, i said, because he told me before he was a dentist, he was a biologist! and i left hoping she would share the pages with him. i also left really glad i was not a snail with 2,640 teeth for him to examine and the hygienist to clean!

7 comments:

chris said...

by the way, the name of the book i'm reading is The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. very interesting book!!

Linda said...

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jenny said...

No wonder the holes are so bin in my sunflower leaves. The snails have something to muchs with!

Irene said...

That sounds like an interesting and intelligent book.

Unknown said...

Lol. Very cute. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris:
I was delighted to read your blog entry about being at the dentist when you read part III of my book! How apropos indeed! I am glad my google alert picked up your posting! Hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters wherever you are when you read them. With best wishes, Elisabeth Tova Bailey www.elisabethtovabailey.com

chris said...

...and what are the chances i'd hear from the author?? thank you, Ms. Bailey - i am enjoying the rest of the chapters! this is one book i don't want to see end.