Thursday, April 1, 2010

Walking in Circles: Watch Your Step!

When I was a teenager my Dad invited some of us to go on a hike in the nearby woods with him. It was a nice warm day and most of us were wearing shorts and sandals. During the hike, while bushwacking through a brushy part of the trail, I noticed that my right foot felt suddenly cool...sort of wet. I wondered where the water had come from and stopped to investigate. To my complete utter horror, I discovered that I had somehow managed to get a slug between my heel and the sandal and had smashed it while I walked. Ew, EWW, EWWWWW! Even now the memory causes me to squirm...I honestly don't know how I survived the incident without long-term emotional scarring.

I still love to go walking and hiking, but you better believe that I learned my lesson about watching where I step. As beautiful as the views are all around, it's still a good idea to know where you are putting your feet. Especially when wearing sandals.

Today I decided to share with all of you lucky people a few images of things that I found underfoot JUST THIS WEEK on my walking adventures. Good thing I was paying attention.

Awww...here's a cute little caterpillar. Some of its relatives didn't look so fuzzy, however, because other people on the trail weren't watching where they were going.

A snake! We actually saw two of them the same day, but the first one was moving too fast for a picture. This one paused a moment for me. I actually don't mind snakes that much, as long as they don't take me by surprise. :)

Slimers...it's a worm! Around here, after a good rain, there are worms all over the place. Worms are also on my list of disgusting things, so I steer very clear of them whenever I can.

It's important to watch your footing on a slippery slope like this one!

Got golashes? Did I mention that it RAINED here this week?

Here it is....the awful slug. I can hardly believe that I knelt down and got this close just to take a picture. It's all for you, people....enjoy! (GROSSSSSSS!!!)

Since it's almost Easter, you might want to watch out that you don't step on the Easter Bunny when you're out walking! Yes, I actually saw this little cutie on an early walk this week. I slowly approached, talking quietly, and managed to get this photo before he hopped away. Now isn't that a nicer image to end with today? I think so, too.
Happy walking everyone, and remember to watch your step!

6 comments:

Kathy Haynie said...

I love your stories and your pictures! This really made me smile this morning. (I do think it's kind of funny that you don't like worms, but you love to garden...the two kind of go hand-in-hand, I think.)
:)

alee said...

EW is right! That slug looks so gross!

I saw a bunny just yesterday...very odd for around here, but I guess it is the season! :) Thanks for the photos!

Katie Lewis said...

Well, at least you got a picture of a cooler-looking slug. But I still wouldn't want it in between me and my sandal. Still, I thought you were going to say you were bitten by a snake and that the cool wet feeling was blood. So in that respect I'm glad to hear it was just a slug. But, yeah, mega gross.

Also, I love that picture with the little bunny. I don't think I have EVER seen a bunny roaming around Provo. Yet another reason I have no desire to spend the rest of my life here.

Thanks for all the fun pictures! :)

Patricia said...

I don't like worms, either, but I like to garden. My kids all know that and used to tease me with worms. I just try to wear gloves when "playing" in the dirt!

Lisa Lou said...

I stepped on a slug once in barefeet. Not a fun thing. On a non-squimish note, your pictures are beautiful! I love the rain! I woke up to snow this morning... maybe it'll change to rain?

Polly @ Pieces by Polly said...

Beautiful pictures...it's even a good picture of the slug. And as far as eewwww factor...it was worse when I found my oldest happily chewing on a slug when she was less than a year old. GROSS!

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