Tonight at my tap class (it should be called a talk-and-laugh -with-a-couple -minutes-of-actual-tapping class) my friend Darnell said that if you sing or hum a tune to a snail you find on a beach, it will come out of its shell.

OK, I have never heard this and I am skeptical. Before Darnell shared this bit of snail trivia, she had been talking about how she duped her young children into believing she made home-made oreo cookies. She went so far as to create the illusion of assembling the cookies and warming them in the oven as her children arrived home from school. She even explained away the oreo word stamped on the cookie, saying she had worked hard all day making it perfect for them.

So can you see why I question her information?

With winter upon us here in Maine and the fact we're unlikely to wade in the ocean when it's 10 degrees Fahrenheit, I am writing to request that my warm weather friends go to the beach, pick up a snail and try singing to it. Then tell me if it really comes out of its shell.

I really would like to know if this is another homemade oreo cookie story....