It's like gardening, no? At the entry level, it's pretty simple and you can get decent results with a few rules of thumb and not too much work. But the underlying processes are complex. We're making intricate little ecosystems governed by chemical and biological processes we can't see directly. For me it's a glimpse into a biologist's world: annelids are very simple creatures, just digestive tubes with reproductive organs, but you start to see all kinds of subtleties in behavior. I no longer wonder why someone would spend a lifetime studying lichen.

There's also room for an incredible amount of DIY inventiveness. Part of what makes the forum interesting is the range of setups and level of ingenuity that goes into vermiculture.

Colin, you're right about the lichen, and I'd never looked at it that way before. I feel kinda sad for people who don't seem to have one or two (or more) things they're crazy about. Hobbies can be lifesavers.

As a houseplant nut, a gardening nut, a compost whacko, and (an aspiring) zero-waste enthusiast, the worms are my heroes!

They eat 99.999% of my food garbage and quite a bit of my cardboard and paper waste too, so all of that doesn't have to end up adding to landfill garbage mountains.
They give me the world's best fertilizer for my garden and houseplants (super happy plants, flowers, and veggies!).

They don't ask for much of anything, they don't require hardly any effort to take care of, they don't take up hardly any space in my basement, and they work harder than anybody I've ever met!

How can you not love that!!!

compost1311: I get a BIG sense of accomplishment too! And I feel better about my use of so many things over the years (mostly plastics and gasoline--NAH! Who am I trying to kid? TONS of things--that are really bad for the earth that my brothers' kids will live in. I didn't know I was doing damage, and I've recycled plastic bags forever, and been quite diligent...Used poison only once, when an ant infestation just wouldn't quit. (Now I know many more things I could have done. But my dad said to use it, and I did. And I still remember unhappily!

But I have urban guilt nonetheless.

You're right. It's quite a thrill to do ONE thing right, and do it well. And it's so much fun to read all the theories. :)

A brother has been hooked on aquariuma since he was a kid, and I never understood it, because they don't respond or show affection, or feel good physically lto care for, like a dog or cat who reward me with affection...But you using that comparison makes it all clear to me now. It's a CLEAN world that he can control and take care of. Thanks a million for the insight. I wonder if this is what it is for him. It makes total sense. He's rather an aging hippy like I am. Peace, the Beatles, and all that. A lifelong musician. Aquariums fit.

It often feels like nothing in the world is truly good and clean and natural and in harmony with Mother Earth. But maybe aquariums feel that way too, just like worm bins for gardeners like me. I wonder what he does with the used water! (I hope they use it in their yard, or is that bad?

Ever in quest of compost!) It's another related obsession!