Born free...

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It's Monday, folks... and while (if you round up) I technically succeeded in keeping the majority of my houseguests alive, they did start to smell so badly that Sunday morning, I had to get rid of them. (Click here for context.) But lest you think that I'm so hard of a New Yorker that I did something as cruel as throw the worms away, think again.

I set the surviving buggers free in a lovely patch of daffodils in Central Park. (That's probably illegal in some way, I'm sure.) But yes, I walked a mile - each way - in order to give the guys a nice place to... well... do worm stuff.

I know exactly what happened to cause the odor - my aeration efforts were not up to par, and the little guys on the bottom suffocated and became... well... worm goo. That's what smelled. (And in my full defense, it kind of smelled a little "gooey" before I took them home... honest!) And while studies have shown that the smell of freshly baked bread can help you sell a piece of property, I'm taking a wild and unscientifically tested guess that the smell of rotting worms has exactly the opposite effect. So I had to get them out of the house during my open house with sufficient time to let the Method air freshener take over.

However... there is an up side! Several up sides, actually...

First, approximately 1,800 worms are now helping to create a more naturally sustainable habitat and create mineral rich soil by eating and pooping in Central Park (unless some passing dog or birds ate them all before they burrowed.) (I'm also guessing at the 1,800 number here - I didn't actually count them... but my sister probably would have.)

Secondly, new worms are being found all over the place - literally! Even worm types that were thought to be previously extinct! So there is loads of good news in the worm world.

In the television world... we had to buy new, non-stinky, goo-less worms. Tune in tomorrow to see the successful fruits of someone else's worm-sitting labors.

Next weekend, I'm babysitting my nephews. Hopefully they won't turn into goo.

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