A Slug and Mountain Music

I saw a giant slug, today - my first giant slug siting in my seven months of Pacific Northwest living. I remember the moment clear as day, driving down highway 2 in Michigan's beautiful upper peninsula with my dad by my side, I stopped for gas at an old fashioned station. As I was paying for my pollutant, the attendant asked me where I was heading. I suppose the upper peninsula is much like my current residency, most folks are just passing through on route to some other, more populated destination. I was passing through, yes, but I doubt my destination was any more populated than whatever U.P. town I had stumbled across. The gas station attendant asked me where I was going and I told him Washington. Without missing a beat, he said, "beware of the slugs." I laughed a little, thinking it was a clever joke, but his face remained straight and he stared at me deadpan. He repeated, "No, seriously - Beware of the giant slugs." Today, I finally witnessed his warning and it was awesome. There she was, slithering down the side of the road, about the size of a medium breed dog turd. She was a tan-brown color, too, but more translucent than excrement. I was grateful to have spotted her.

The other day, I was walking down the side of the road and I spotted a caddis fly larva in her cocoon walking down the side of the road. I had to stop and really enjoy this spectacle, because I knew how truly rare it was. Caddis fly larva live in bodies of water, traditionally rivers, and here one was just strolling down my road next to me. I suppose it is wet enough here.

So this is how I am trying to live my life right now, in acute observation. I don't want to walk passed a slug or a caddis fly larva, because I am too caught up in my job or my self-loathing or whatever else is truly pointless. This weekend is the Packwood Mountain Festival, so all of the old Packwoodians have come out of their grandfather's cabins to tell their stories. One older man, who I would later hear play beautiful mountain music, was telling a group of second grade school children why they should appreciate Mt. Rainer. He said you could travel to Switzerland if you wanted, but we have the same beauty right in our backyards. I think he is right, but that is not just true for Packwood. Perhaps the great snow capped peak illuminates the beauty and makes it quite obvious, but there is beauty everywhere, even in Greenville, MI. My Grandma saw it everyday. Why can't we all? All we have to do is stop for a second, put aside our Hollywood misconceptions, and look...just look.