The Slug

I was walking home after going to the gym tonight and I stepped over what looked, at first glance, like a big acorn. Then I did a double take and realized that it was a snail, I love snails! And I see them so rarely, I got disproportionately excited! He was huge, probably two inches long with a big green and yellow shell. And I thought, gosh you are so much prettier than a slug. Then I thought, now wait a minute, it takes all kinds to make the world go round, those less beautiful serve no less of a purpose (yes I turned my snail sighting into an existential internal dialogue). Then I remembered that upon sighting an absurdely huge slug while hiking the other day I decided to look up what purpose they served; they must bring more to the table than slime right? So I looked it up. It turns out they are incredibly important......and they have tongues!! Who knew?!
So here's a bit about the slug:
Their 'skin' is not waterproof and they must remain damp at all times in order for their bodies to not dry out, which is why they are always out at night, after the rain, under rocks etc. That is also why they shrivel up when you put salt on them, and yes they do have nervous systems, so yes that does hurt them, so stop it. They have eyes, and tentacles, and mouths WITH TONGUES AND TEENY TEENY TEETH!! Which leads me to their purpose. A large part of the slug diet is made up of decaying vegetation, animal feces and carrion (which is a fancy word for dead animal carcass). So by processing these materials and excreting them back into the soil, the slugs are returning the nutrients of those materials back into the earth much quicker than would happen if the decaying process just ran its course. Those very nutrients are what make soil fertile and able to foster the growth of crops and plants that we as humans depend on for consumption, occupation, economic development etc......not to mention that nearly every other species on the planet also depends on some plant or another. Further more!...Research is being conducted (as we speak) at the University of Washington to determine the chemical structure of the slime that the slug excretes and see if we can use that to learn about mucus related disorders like cystic fibrosis. Pretty sweet! So my dear snail, you may be pretty, but can you process enough decaying material to support the entire ecosystem AND cure cystic fibrosis? Probably not.

A little me time

So I have been needing a day, just for me. I've been going and doing so much that I have been ignoring myself and it was starting to wear on me, so I decided to take myself on a date. I shut my phone off when I left the house this morning and set off for the Bellingham area (up north). Someone told me that there is a nice hike up there somewhere on Chuckanut Drive, which is one of the most scenic routes in the country (as proclaimed by a historic sign posted at one of its view points). I didn't know where this hike was, what it was called, how long it was, or really even how to get to Chuckanut Drive. All I knew was I had to take the highway north, so I did. There was conveniently an exit called 'Chuckanut Drive', so I assumed this was my stop. As soon as I got off the highway I was in the middle of farmland, alpaca farms, organic produce stands......and a japanese plant store, it seemed a bit out of place, but lovely nonetheless. After a while the road narrowed and it was just rocks on my right and the cliffs into the ocean on my left. It was kind of like the Kangamangus Highway, but on the ocean instead of a river. I'm sure it would have been stunning, but I picked the only day this week that was overcast. I eventually got to a state park area that looked like people might hike around there, so I parked and just started walking. I asked some people where the trailhead was, and they said 'which one?', so I said something like 'meh, you choose'. They pointed me in the direction of the same one I had intended to hike (which I knew because the one I was looking for had a lake on top, and this one was called Fragrance Lake). The hike was exactly what I needed, it was a nice easy hike and the lake at the top was so quiet and serene. I just felt like I was in the middle of nowhere and that I was the only one for miles. Of course I wasn't and there were a few families here and there, but for the most part it was really quiet. I walked around the lake until I found a log to sit on and eat and read a bit. I lounged and just soaked in all the nature I could. It reminded me so much of Maine, just a beautiful hidden treasure tucked in the woods.


After a long while I hiked back down and decided that since I had no idea where Chuckanut Drive would take me if I kept following it, I should find out. I took it for a few miles of beautifully winding turns and ended up in a ridiculously cute town called Fairhaven (which I found out later is part of Bellingham). I parked and walked around for a couple of hours, went to a bookstore, sampled some fudge at a card shop, went to a fair trade market, looked at pottery I pretended I could afford, found a glass firing cafe where you can go and make designs with glass and have them fire it in a kiln. We used to do that with Boppa (my grandfather) when we were little, so I got really excited, but they couldn't fire it till next weekend, so opted out. Then I went into a bakery and said 'Hey I have a quick question for you....where am I?' So she told me some things to see and said that if I wanted to walk to downtown Bellingham I should take the boardwalk and I'd be there in 20 minutes.


So I started walking and then realized the boardwalk is actually a built up boardwalk IN the ocean, not next to it, so that was really pretty. Then it brought me to a gorgeous park, there was a group of people doing cappoiera (I have NO idea how to spell that), and another group of people playing bongo and conga drums. So I kept walking, happy to be soaking in all of the happy people, but my legs were tired and there was no sign of any downtown. So I asked a lady how far downtown was and she laughed.....then pointed about 3 miles down the coast. Oh. I turned around and walked back to my car. After driving to downtown, I found that everything in Bellingham closes at 4 on sundays, which was convenient since it was 7. So I walked around a bit, completely content to do nothing and just walk. Eventually I got back in my car and headed back towards Chuckanut (as soon as I had finished my hike the sun came out. perfect.) so I wanted to see the sights with a better view. I saw a bit more but it was still pretty hazy. Anyway, it was just what I needed and I was so relieved and excited to have all that time just for me.