There were thousands if not millions of them all over the place. This morning when I took my walk around the Reeuwijkse Plassen (The Lakes), after several days of heavy rainfall which caused a good portion of moisture and muddiness, all those slugs were making their way from one side of the asphalt path to the other. The very same path upon which I was attempting to pursue my walk of meditative glory lost in revelry. Now these slugs are not your everyday type of "average" species found in most household gardens. These are the big fat juicy kinds which grow to be four inches long. Zig-zagging patterns of mucous drying up in the sun and barely discernible movement. Almost squished a few of them while lost in thought, but at the last downward moment of my right or left foot was instinctively able to jerk my shoe just in time to miss the slimy creature. Sorry, excuse me. Oops, pardon me again please. My gosh, where were they all coming from? Much to my despair, many of them had already been flattened by a passing hiker, skater, bicycle and/or motorcycle. Messy, but they should have been aware of the oncoming disaster. For all I know, these advanced creatures were more than likely aware of the impending doom, just before impact. But because of their inherent slowness, these poor souls were not able to get out of the way in time. Nature in all its glory. There were also other slimy creatures smashed in various poses of last second demise. Little frogs and big frogs, long thick worms, a dragonfly, and even an unhatched baby bird with fragments of shell and all. But still, not a fraction of the uncountable number of slugs dead and alive, a veritable multitude of mis-formed cytoplasm. Nature can be brutal, and it continues no matter what. Perhaps I am just as insignificant as all these other beings of lesser size. If I do not watch out, I too may be smashed. Will I be able to jump out of the way in time despite my inherent slowness? I think so, but you never know.
