Now that the semester is over, I'm able to open my eyes and see nature's fully-emerged springtime joy.

Wednesday was very hot, and the ants, who have no air conditioners, fled their subterranean passageways to frolic in the breeze.

Walking on concrete must have burned their feet.

Thursday, the rabbits came out. Elizabethtown College hosts a beautiful campus full of colorful trees, fresh landscaping, and green green grass. The rabbits agreed and were enjoying a tasty snack as I walked into work.

Many rabbits call Etown College their home. They are very used to humans around, and they often let me come close to them. I know it's springtime when, walking between classes, I see the friendly rabbits.

The landscapers work hard at the college. They must be annoyed by the slime molds that have surfaced the last few days.

Slime molds are one of my favorite organisms. They are a reminder of how amazing God's creation truly is.

If you see a slime mold, don't remove it. What you're seeing is just a very very small part of the slime mold: the reproductive system. Slime molds are blobs of goop that live undernead the ground and flow through dirt! They can travel in a flow or in a tiny thread only a few cells wide. Many slime molds live underground, and if you see a number of spore-slimes poke their heads up within an area, they're likely all from the same slime mold, which could stretch for hundreds of yards underneath the ground.

If you remove the above-ground part of the slime mold, it'll just pop its head up again. Wait for the head to die and turn dark brown. Then remove it.

The slime will have passed on.