Halloween. Bare Bones Style.
Not a single decoration. No scary movies. Rain all day, but so, so warm. I bought just enough candy, apparently. Thank goodness. I have about 20 pieces of chocolate left in the pot. The rush came between 5 and 7 pm. But I am happy that I get to be here tonight. Day shift is good sometimes. At least now I don’t have to de-decorate. I will update this here bloggy thing as soon as possible. Thank you to my 2 new followers and all you wonderful people out there who are still checking and reading the same old thing every day. I am funny and relevant and have things to say. I just don’t have as much time to say them anymore now that I have my new job. Soon. Soon. Tomorrow is All Saints Day. Then the Day of the Dead or All Soul’s Day. Since I am lazy, I will link all my cool past posts here, and you can be amazed and hungry for the next thing I might write. Click the holiday to read about it! In the meantime, here is a giant spider that was in our house. We have had a lot of them but this is the only picture. And it’s blurry with the eyes all flashed out. But I post it because you can clearly see how big it is. Each one of those small squares is 4 inches in area. That spider is taking charge of at least half of those inches. Now 2 inches may not seem like a lot, but this is a house spider. Wolf spiders mostly. Go get a ruler and look at 2 inches. Really look. We forget how big an inch is because it’s always portrayed so small. 2 inches of spider is just a little bit too uncomfortably big to kill with a kleenex. And there seems to be a rash of these giant mutated spiders all over the Midwest this year. We all better be careful. Focusing too much on zombies and forgetting the real, live, predator threats that crawl around our houses at night when we are all snuggled in bed. So you are welcome for that. Have a safe and happy Halloween. The dead will be rising in a few hours and I need to go get a spell casted to keep the spirits where they belong. And dinner. Later.
Another Bug
Hanging out near my sitting spot Friday morning. No harm came to this creature by my hand. I just photo’d him and put him back near a tree. I’m going to do some bird pictures next. Something pretty. I have work today. I am tired. My shift is going to be good. I am telling myself that because I want to have a positive attitude. Super Saturday! We will see.
Late Summer Bug Out
Late July, early August. This is the time to be careful. Every day I step outside to see some new type of bug (or snake–HA) trying to give me a fright.
Not because they are soooo scary but because they surprise me with their quiet, non-moving, oddly, and sometimes ominously, colored presence in the places that I was the day before and they were not. And because of my schedule. I get to see day bugs, like that one above, and night bugs, which seem even bigger and buggier in the semi dark of my backyard.
I have to look up on the doors and walls and down on the ground. I keep thinking that my lost snake will return like a cat or a homing pigeon, back to stay with the family forever or exact its revenge for abandoning it to the wild. As a bonus, I usually get to be the first one to walk through the webs that our wolf spiders are always trying to build across the door frame.
Yuck yuck yuck. Three different kinds that I was able to get a picture of, not to mention the countless other spiders I don’t see. This moth (?) was just sitting on my flower pot while I dead headed.
Did not move or even try to fly away even when I was shaking the planter. Standing his ground. It knows that I am not going to touch it. I mean, look at it. Eeesh. I also have some kind of giant bee or wasp or something buzzing around my butterfly flowers in the front. I am not exaggerating when I say “giant” either. It’s bigger than the average bee/wasp. Probably, conservatively, 2-3 inches in length and with a wider body. It does not sit long enough yet for me to get its photo, but, you know, I will devote the rest of the season to trying. My son just moved some sticks from our small branch pile in the back, and uncovered a swarming bee’s nest. He got stung three times. Luckily he is not allergic and has been stung several times before in his young life. Both of my kids have. I think that might be kind of weird just by itself. Some people never get stung by bees. And yet my kids get stung practically every summer. Hmm. I don’t really have any more reflecting to do on that. Just throwing it out there because I mostly type what I am thinking. The BF has planned an actual weekend for us. With a schedule and list of things to do and places to go. And I have one more day of work to get through before the fun begins. I may or may not get to post as we go. I plan on putting the actual list here if I can but I don’t want to jinx our plans so I may have to do it after and let you know what we did or didn’t do. Plus, I have to send it to the computer and download and blah blah blah. So here are a bunch of bugs to enjoy while I am gone. Have a nice creepy day.
FYI. Ending on a positive. This last bug is NOT a real bug. It’s a display from the zoo. But what if it was? Think about it. Later.
Bug Close Ups. A New Low.
Why? My computer will not let me pull up and crop my bench pictures. It is taking way too long to get the images. I have to work today. This is my long week and I am impatient. These two pics were all ready to go. And they are in the folder that needs to be used. I am desperate to post something every day if possible. I guess this is desperate. Anyway here is some phone camera action for you to enjoy on WOW Wednesday. More like, Wait. What? Wah. Wah. Wah. Wednesday. I took the one above with the GS4. Stevie took the one below with her IP4. Yep. That’s it. Have a great day!
And This Is Really Showing Off
Again, with the S4. I took it this morning when I was dead heading my flowers that I have somehow managed to bring back to life. Please feel free to click the image so it gets really big, and you can get in there, nice and close, and see all the detail, clarity, and acuity I am working with over here. Using my phone camera. I have to go to work now, but hopefully my son can impress everyone later with the pictures he took with his S4, before we had to replace it. I managed to forward about 10 of the 50 or 60 pics on the camera before it got shut down. I scrolled fast and tried to save the best. We’ll see.
Pink Spider!
You will just have to trust me that this pink-tinged photo of a Wolf Spider is better than my cardboard “cure” stand that I was going to post. Of course I have more pictures of spiders. They crawl all over the place right now. And they’re big. Giant one in the bathroom trying to sneak along the bathtub edge; super fast, rounder, black one trying to dash across the living room floor from the safe couch to the safer fish tank spot; bold and sassy one sitting right on top of the counter next to the paper towels trying not to move, I swear it felt like a spider stand-off; and of course old faithful here, and most likely a hundred or so of his/her relatives, that seem to camp out near the back door when the weather starts turning cold. They grow bigger and bigger and try to build a web across the patio almost every night. As long as they stay away from our “walking zone” we let them be. You have to respect the kind of nature that can survive and thrive in these harsh times. Besides, these kind of spiders aren’t poisonous and they don’t hurt people intentionally. Heart attack inducing creepiness and the ability to jump-lunge at threats or rear up on some of their back legs to look menacing, not withstanding. I definitely don’t want one on me, but you know that spiders do crawl on you at night sometimes while you are sleeping and you don’t even know it! So think about that tonight when you are all tucked in and feeling cozy! Also, it’s a major heat wave going through today and tomorrow, so all the creepy crawlers should be peeking their heads out from wherever they have been hiding in your house to see what the hell is going on. Why is it 80 damn degrees again?!? Let’s walk around this nice warm house tonight and see if we can all figure it out! At the same time! More soothing bedtime tales! I just scooped up one of those long, skinny, brown, caterpillar like bugs, that curl up into a spiral, bulls-eye shape when you touch them, last night after work. He was just scootching across the kitchen floor, going somewhere. I nearly stepped on him because he wasn’t there when I walked through, like, 10 minutes before. Late nights on a slab house. Yeek. (Throw me a comment if you happen to know what they are called. I used to know, but I am too time crunched to look it up right this minute.) Maybe I will post all my creepy-crawly pics the next few days…it’s still pink October, but it is getting close to Halloween and my fav holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and I have alot of “natural” decorations all around my house. Outside and inside. What can I say? I’m kind of a lazy cleaner and those spiders are relentless in their web building! And if you are looking up into my corners instead of focusing on my fabulous, engaging, sparkling company, then you deserve to see the cobwebs! Anyway, here is one more fun fact before I hit the showers and go to work: The debate rages on in the internet world but…people, in general, swallow about 3 to 8 spiders in their lifetime! Some say 3 spiders per year get swallowed up. Some say maybe 8 in a lifetime. The figures vary because no one can really know exactly how many spiders you may be munching on. I believe it is possible, and here is why: because some people leave an open glass of water on their nightstand and drink from it through the night. A spider crawls onto the cup, falls in, and cannot get out. You wake up, you drink, you feel something, but you are half-asleep, and it’s not like you turned the light on to see, did you?? Nope. You swallow, you go back to sleep. That’s one. Now repeat every few years. There you go. And I know for a fact that my daughter has already eaten at least 3 spiders, because she used to grab them right off the floor when she was small and eat them! She was so fast I couldn’t stop her. They were small too. And slow, apparently. She never got sick and she seems fine and normal today. I mean people do eat them as actual food in some countries so it’s not crazy. But I have to go now. Everyone get out and enjoy our last 2 days of sunny warmth. And when you go to bed tonight, keep your mouth closed and a cap on your water bottle. Sweet dreams! Later.
Hmm…even school one day a week can be avoided w/out much effort!
Here, I didn’t think I would need that category, “Wasting Study Time Posts”, and yet, here it is! I have one class. At night. With one paper to write every week. And here I am again, waiting until today. Actually right now. Well, after I post this. And make a meatloaf. And put away dishes and do some laundry. It’s not even a paper. It’s two paragraphs. Of my opinion on an article that I read. (I did read it—bonus!) and I really need to be done so I can get to my serious work for an ACLS class I am taking. I really want to pass that one. I really need to read the material. Really really really…But, since we’re all here….
This is a grasshopper that jumped onto the car as we left the 7-11 Sunday afternoon. We were on the road, waiting to turn at a stoplight, when I took this with my phone camera. YES. The HTC ThunderBolt phone camera. From inside the car, through the window, inches away:
Then he kindly gave me his better side to photograph:
Once we started driving, he braced himself, picked his moment, and leapt off the car to destinations unknown. We hoped that he didn’t get run over by another car.
Happy Tuesday!
As promised: Higher level thinking! Stink Bugs!
And it’s a crappy pic to boot. But I was so surprised and shocked that I had to hurry and take it with the phone. I have never in my whole life seen one in person. Weird right? And there it was just sitting on the garbage can. I only know what it is because the kids are always talking about them and their shield shape. And there it is! And you thought this was going to be just another lame ass Friday. As I was trying to take its photograph it started walking away from me so I got one more pic and it picked up and flew away. And I haven’t seen another one since?
Here’s another question: Where do stink bugs live? Like, in trees? The ground? They must be hanging out somewhere when we don’t see them. Any bug people out there want to help me out?
I guess I could look it up on the internet seeing as I seem to have all this free time. Should have researched that first huh? Anyway, here’s the other Stink Bug picture:
The real birthday celebration was a little different…
And a little more savage. Ewww…sorry. Hooter’s. That was last Saturday. With the family. There was carnivorous behavior occurring. They were good though, even though it looks disgusting in this picture. Check out that clarity! Guess who took it? Picture(s) below:
It's just not a camera file without a picture of Mason. Or his new hat that he loves. From the truck race in Joliet last Friday.
Giant, creepy spider waiting on the wall to grab our leftovers. Yes, there were leftovers. Hard to believe, I know.
Sunday Bug
I have two more left. This was technically the last bug on the tour, but I am putting it second-to-last because I want to go out with a bigger bang! Bumblebee Big! You’ll have to look tomorrow!
Anyway, I still have to go to my sissy’s and it doesn’t look like I am getting outdoors to do any actual exercise today, so I’ll quickly post these things that are outside, in nature, and that will kind of have to be good enough.
You will also have to excuse the extra people in the pictures. For some reason, everyone globbed up right at the end, talking to their friends, pulling snacks out of strollers, on the phone, kids laying all over the grass… and wouldn’t get out of picture range for all the rest of us. But you can still see the bug.
Come on people! Get out of the way!! Go talk on your cell phone out of picture range!
just shy of pretty 