SEX!!!

I was out in the back yard checking on my tomatoes yesterday when I spotted a praying mantis and went to grab the camera.

I noticed what I thought to be a grasshopper clinging to her back and tried to remove it with a blade of grass. That didn't work so I continued snapping pictures.

The mantis maneuvered around the grasses and plant stems and finally got to the fence, where she continued to climb. When I got the photos uploaded to my computer I discovered, to my embarrassment, that the passenger was . . . er . . . rather firmly attached and that the twosome apparently had been caught in flagrante delicto.

All I can say by apology is "Oops!" Sorry, I'm a city boy.

For your holiday weekend?

A friend in California sent me this photo from Morro Bay.

I guess it's lucky I quit drinking before I got there!

New arrival

Many years ago, before e-mail, there was something called a "telegram". When I was born in North Dakota in 1940, my father sent a telegram to his brother in San Francisco to make the announcement. Like with another long past mode of communication . . "cablegrams" . . apparently the price of the "gram" was based on the number of words in it. Therefore, brevity was valued.

I was going through a file today and ran across the telegram my father sent about my birth. Brevity, yes, but wit too.

Rose of Sharon

My girls

Everyone knows that a cat will adopt a box. Any box. And the cat will adapt to the size and the shape of the box. Jazz has adopted this shallow box.

She has fallen in love with this box and spends hours every day curled up in it.

Then, there's another thing about cats. They seem to inherently know . . . what they look best on. They seek out a fabric, a color, a texture and seem most comfortable posing on it. Muggles has taken to this chair.

Does she look happy or not?

I think you can see why I love my girls.

More monsoon clouds . . and a surprise!

I just can't resist photographing these wonderful clouds.

(They're more impressive if you click on the photos)

But I didn't notice the visitor in this scene until after I looked at the photos on my computer.

Here's a closer look.

It's a helicopter!

If he noticed me, he probably think's I'M a spy!

Brilliant!

I'll leave a light on for ya'!