Patterns before the snow

 I keep a couple of small planks on my front lawn in order to attract sights such as these.  Quite a variety of slugs rise to the surface of the soil beneath the boards.  Sunday was warm enough to catch a few good photos.  Then, Monday and today, we had bitter cold afternoons and these critters descend into the soil again.  I wonder if the beautiful pattern serves any function since they spend almost all their time in darkness - at least what is darkness to us.  Maybe they're phosphorescent, or are "visible" to each other in terms we don't understand. 

 The telescoping eye stalks are a never-ending fascination.  I wonder what slugs actually see when their eyes move independently in all directions. 

 Forsythia in the shade send out very long branches with few flowers.  Like Redbud, the leaves arrive later.  Forsythia is in the Olive family.  Why does that seem weird to me?  Lilacs are in that family, too.

The forecast for tomorrow is sunny again.  I hope it turns out to be true this time.