WEP: The Kiss
What could be more appropriate for Valentine month than Gustav Klimtās The Kiss?
This shimmery, early 20th century painting of a couple embracing in a patch of wildflowers has riveted art afficionados across the world for decades.
Use this amazing painting to kick off a romantic love story of star crossed lovers. Or maybe a much married pair whoāve been together for years. Of unrequited or lost love. Or any love of the other gazillion types.
For unValentinish souls, remember that there are kisses other than romantic ones. The kiss of life, the kiss of death, the kiss of betrayal, the angelsā kiss in spring. The mystical thousand ways of kneeling and kissing the ground.
One golden artwork, a zillion directions to go. Pick yours and run with it. Weāre cheering for you. And can't wait to see what you come up with!
That's the February challenge. And this is my response. I struggled a bit, until I remembered something my boys told me about their experience at 5th Grade "Outdoor Ed" at a camp near San Francisco.
The Kiss
āDo it! Do it!ā All the kids were looking at him, chanting, as they had for every other camper in the group, āDo it! Do it! Kiss the slimy lips!ā
Jordan looked from his campmates to the forest floor, hoping for some way out. Some way that wouldnāt mark him as a spoilsport or a chicken. Maybe it would be gone. It might have gotten away while they were urging him to pick it up.
āCāmon, Jord,ā Callie urged. She was his best friend, but right now he hated her along with all the others. āYouāre the only one who hasnāt. If you just do it, weāll be the first team to complete the Banana Slug Challenge!ā
The Banana Slug Challenge. Jordan winced. It meant a lot to the other campers. The first cabin-pair team to present photographic proof that every camper had kissed a banana slug would win the right to go first in line at every meal left in the week. That sort of thing mattered, especially with those bigger kids who always seemed to push ahead and get the best desserts.
Reluctantly, Jordan turned his gaze on the large, greeny-yellow gastropod at his feet. Of course it was still there. It was a slug. It couldnāt run away and hide. It probably didnāt know enough to run anyway. The slug wouldnāt care about what was about to happen. It was just Jordan who was grossed out by the thought of picking up a slug, let alone kissing it.
Not that it would be a real kiss. Theyād all been coached on how to do it without hurting the animals. A little peck on the top of the head, avoid the antennae and the funny hole on the side of the head, if you could even call it a head.
Taking a deep breath, feeling Callieās hand on his shoulderāwas she pushing him or trying to reassure him?āJordan slowly bent and ran his hand through the loose forest-floor duff. His scoop came up with the slug still resting on the mass of fallen redwood needles. He closed his eyes, then forced himself to open them. Heād had to look to make sure he got this right, or he could end up with a mouthful of banana slug. Definitely not what he wanted.
Hoping he wouldnāt puke, Jordan lowered his face to the unsuspecting creature in his hand.
Back at the camp, Jordan washed his mouth again and again, shuddering. Heād been fine until, not far from camp, they had come on a pile of horse poop with a banana slug nosing about for tasty bits. At least he hadnāt been the only one to puke.
The horror of that day would never leave him.
His lips rubbed almost raw, he left the bathroom when he heard the dinner bell, and began to run. He was a hero! Theyād be first in line for dinner!
#
The life of a banana slug happens in slow-motion. Movement, dining, defense against predatorsāall depend on slime and patience, not speed or ferocity. And donāt even ask about mating, which can take all day. It might take half the day for a slug to decide if it will be male or female (answer: both).
The slug therefore hadnāt started or panicked when surrounded by large, noisy animals. It had simply continued to ooze along in search of the pile of delectable horse droppings it sensed lay somewhere nearby. Experience had shown that two-leggers left slugs alone.
The slug was dimly aware that the pile of duff it over which it slid was rising. The magnitude of the disaster became clear only when a vast face loomed in the slugās view.
Then the slug would have fled at high speed, had such been possible. It made every effort to gather itself and writhe out of the way of the immense pinky-red arcs that curved closer and closer. Surely this couldnāt be happening. To be touched by such a disgusting creature, all dry and raspy and covered with neither fur nor the more sensible slime! The slug shrunk into itself, turned away, would have cried out if it had anything with which to produce a noise.
There was no escape.
The giant fleshy bits descended on the slugās head, touched its skin. The slug was certain the touch would burn, leave a mark for all to see.
Then it was falling, along with the pile of duff it had rested on in security such a short time before.
The dreadful contact ended, the slug endured a new horror, the discovery of gravity.
Long after the loud, thumping herd of two-leggers was gone the slug lay there. When at last it dared to move, its body stretched out of the mess of dirt and redwood needles that had fallen with it, much of the forest detritus still clinging to head and back.
The horror of that day would never be forgotten, but life must continue. Slowly, cautiously, the slug began to move, gaining purpose and direction.
There was still that pile of horse droppings to be explored.
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Banana slugs range in color from almost an olive drab to bright yellow, and some have black spots while others don't. I'm pretty sure the spots/no spots variations are regional--SF Bay Area slugs never seemed to have them--but the other shadings seem to have more to do with local conditions and what blends in well. The photos below all convey pretty accurate color. These are all my photos, all taken within 50 miles of San Francsico, accompanied by some fun slug facts.
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The yellow end of the spectrum. Note the hole in the side, which is for breathing, but also gives access to the genetalia. |
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A poor photo but at the other end of the color spectrum, almost olive drab. The pneumostome (the breathing hole) is pretty wide open. |
Hope you've enjoyed this little info drop on banana slugs!
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