Rainbows and Worms

Rain started to fall Saturday night, and it continued all through Sunday, at times becoming fairly heavy. I had some things to do so I was out driving in the rain much of the time, thoroughly enjoying the rare treat of a downpour in L.A.; however, I understand the rain caused damage in some places.

Today the weather stayed wet till midday, then the clouds broke up and the Sun came out and dazzled in the washed-clean air of the early afternoon. Interestingly, though, I could see a thick dark layer of clouds hanging low like a lid over the land, seemingly just down the street. I would say it made for a very cozy effect, if the word had a meterological application.

And I rescued 5-count'em-5 worms this morning, and that was without even leaving the parking lot (forgot to take a picture of the last one).


As I mentioned once before, worms crawling around on your palm can tickle -- I couldn't stop laughing while carrying that middle pair, and coworker Yesenia looked at me strange... she probably didn't notice the worms. I saw no need to explain.

Then I came across this thing, and just for a moment I thought it was a REALLY long worm. It's just as well it wasn't, because I would have been a little scared to pick up a worm that long.


Most of the worms I encountered today were small and scrawny -- one was so little it had to be the equivalent of a child. Wonder if worms have a calving season?

After the worms, I came across a small slug crawling across the parking lot. I hesitated a little before picking it up and putting it in the grass... I don't know why I don't particularly like slugs, since I like snails, and slugs are essentially snails without shells, but there you are. I came across another slug on the way in, but stayed away from that one. Slugs are sticky, I found out.

Number of Worms Rescued So Far: 29 (plus 1 slug)


Edit: When I release worms I usually dig a little pit with my finger so that the worms would have a damp place to rest and recover before burrowing in properly. One of the two worms in the middle photo was a little stubborn about settling in, and I found myself saying "Gay in drerd!". It's a Yiddish phrase that means, literally, "Go into the earth", according to writer Leo Rosten. Normally it's used as an invective, in the sense of "Go to hell!", but here I meant it literally.

Knew that little bit of knowledge would come in handy at some point in my life.