Episode 2 of The Circles: Looking for Snails

One of our daily rituals before preschool is stopping by the succulent bushes just outside our front door.

We’re not in a rush. Not yet.

We crouch low. We peer between stems. We search the undersides of leaves.

We’re looking for snails.

Big ones.
Small ones.
Teeny tiny ones that barely move but still leave a glistening trail behind.

This became the inspiration for the second episode of The Circles, a short animated series I’ve been making to document the small, quiet moments of our family life here in Santa Cruz. What began as a creative exercise quickly became something more: a way to slow down, pay attention, and capture the wonder of our days.

Snail-spotting is just one of the many ways we mark time. But in that quiet morning pause, before backpacks and drop-offs and daily to-dos, it feels like something meaningful. A chance to notice the world with my daughter. A chance to start the day not with urgency, but with curiosity.

In this episode, I wanted to hold on to that sense of stillness. The kind that kids seem to notice more than adults. The kind that can be easy to overlook unless you’re on your hands and knees looking for signs of life under the leaves.

There’s no plot. No twist. Just observation. Just a little family, looking for snails.