The act of slug love requires the two to swing suspended on some kind of filament - you see a glimpse of it at the top of the photo.
Then that blue stuff is secreted...and then sucked back in.
Like I said...kinda gross.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Slugs Need Love, Too
This grossed me out. I hate slugs - but I guess it's as the title suggests:
The act of slug love requires the two to swing suspended on some kind of filament - you see a glimpse of it at the top of the photo.
Then that blue stuff is secreted...and then sucked back in.
Like I said...kinda gross.
The act of slug love requires the two to swing suspended on some kind of filament - you see a glimpse of it at the top of the photo.
Then that blue stuff is secreted...and then sucked back in.
Like I said...kinda gross.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Every Bug Has Its Day
We didn't have fireworks on the Fourth of July - we had fireflies.
It's been a good year for lightning bugs. For some reason - the wet weather perhaps? - there were a lot of them. I say 'were,' because the bloom is over. Just a few stragglers blinking in the night.
Fireflies aren't flies - they're actually a type of beetle. Kansas is the western edge of their habitat. They're an eastern bug - lightning bugs are a rarity on the west coast.
Their glow comes from a chemical reaction in light-producing organs in the firefly's abdomen. They're quite efficient at producing light: nearly 100 percent of their light is given off as light. An electric light bulb, by contrast, gives off 10 percent light while the other 90 percent is heat.
Each species of firefly has a specific flash pattern. Males use it to catch the fancy of females in the area and a quick flash communication between the two ensues as they prepare to get it on. The bioluminescence is also thought to be a warning to other predators: "don't eat me, I taste really bad."
Their life span is about two months. Which made me wonder: if, as Einstein said, time is relative, does time slow down for a firefly? Do they cram a lot of living in that short period? There was certainly a lot of sex happening out in the woods on the Fourth of July.....
Nature's light show.
It's been a good year for lightning bugs. For some reason - the wet weather perhaps? - there were a lot of them. I say 'were,' because the bloom is over. Just a few stragglers blinking in the night.
Fireflies aren't flies - they're actually a type of beetle. Kansas is the western edge of their habitat. They're an eastern bug - lightning bugs are a rarity on the west coast.
Their glow comes from a chemical reaction in light-producing organs in the firefly's abdomen. They're quite efficient at producing light: nearly 100 percent of their light is given off as light. An electric light bulb, by contrast, gives off 10 percent light while the other 90 percent is heat.
Each species of firefly has a specific flash pattern. Males use it to catch the fancy of females in the area and a quick flash communication between the two ensues as they prepare to get it on. The bioluminescence is also thought to be a warning to other predators: "don't eat me, I taste really bad."
Their life span is about two months. Which made me wonder: if, as Einstein said, time is relative, does time slow down for a firefly? Do they cram a lot of living in that short period? There was certainly a lot of sex happening out in the woods on the Fourth of July.....
Nature's light show.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Moon Suit
As the photo below indicates, the bugs are out in full force now. I hold my walking stick in front of me as I hike the trails; if I don't, I get a faceful of spiderweb.
The chiggers and ticks, however, are the worst.
Funny how one's idealized image of something often bumps up against cold, hard reality. When my husband and I first puchased the acreage for our house, I loved the idea of living in the middle of a forest.
On the morning of our wedding anniversary, a month or so after we'd bought the land, we decided to take some lawn chairs, croissants, and the makings for mimosas and watch the sun come up. We spent the morning in a little clearing and it was lovely - even though neither of us had realized it's a little hard to see the sunrise when you're surrounded by trees.
I started to itch a little later in the day. Upon investigation, I discovered I had approximately 250 chigger bites; Mr. D had 3. We counted.
I spent the next two weeks trying everything: bleach baths, nail polish, calomine lotion, anything that promised relief from the itching. Nothing helped, until a pharmacist recommended Benadryl (duh!) and the topical application of Absorbine Jr. Muscle Liniment in the roll-on bottle. Had to be the roll-on, she said, though it wasn't indicated on the label as an itch reliever. (It is now.)
That was the first breakthrough. The second is what Mr. D calls my 'moon suit": pants, socks, shirt, bandanna, and hat - all treated with some anti-bug chemical that lasts through 25 washings. And it works. I no longer have to spray myself with Deep Woods Off (the best, but made me want to shower as soon as I could.) The moon suit hangs on a peg by the back door, ready for me whenever I feel the urge.
It's hot, though that's a small price to pay to be chigger- and tick-free.
The chiggers and ticks, however, are the worst.
Funny how one's idealized image of something often bumps up against cold, hard reality. When my husband and I first puchased the acreage for our house, I loved the idea of living in the middle of a forest.
On the morning of our wedding anniversary, a month or so after we'd bought the land, we decided to take some lawn chairs, croissants, and the makings for mimosas and watch the sun come up. We spent the morning in a little clearing and it was lovely - even though neither of us had realized it's a little hard to see the sunrise when you're surrounded by trees.
I started to itch a little later in the day. Upon investigation, I discovered I had approximately 250 chigger bites; Mr. D had 3. We counted.
I spent the next two weeks trying everything: bleach baths, nail polish, calomine lotion, anything that promised relief from the itching. Nothing helped, until a pharmacist recommended Benadryl (duh!) and the topical application of Absorbine Jr. Muscle Liniment in the roll-on bottle. Had to be the roll-on, she said, though it wasn't indicated on the label as an itch reliever. (It is now.)
That was the first breakthrough. The second is what Mr. D calls my 'moon suit": pants, socks, shirt, bandanna, and hat - all treated with some anti-bug chemical that lasts through 25 washings. And it works. I no longer have to spray myself with Deep Woods Off (the best, but made me want to shower as soon as I could.) The moon suit hangs on a peg by the back door, ready for me whenever I feel the urge.
It's hot, though that's a small price to pay to be chigger- and tick-free.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Putting it in context
I'm sitting inside feeling whiny about the heat...and the rain. Hard week at work. Cruising the Web 'cuz I don't have anything better to do, and then I come across this post on the BBC:
Today is a different day. I and my friends may never return home. We want the world to at least picture our being killed on streets to help democracy in iran and save the world. Pray for us.
Farshid, Tehran, Iran
Meanwhile, from the live Iran blog on Huffington Post:
12:26 PM ET -- Mousavi martyrdom. A message on Mousavi's official Facebook page "confirms he is on the streets and has 'washed in readiness to be martyred,'" a Persian speaker emails.
Suddenly, my alleged problems seem a little puny...
'Scuse me. I gotta go watch CNN now.
Today is a different day. I and my friends may never return home. We want the world to at least picture our being killed on streets to help democracy in iran and save the world. Pray for us.
Farshid, Tehran, Iran
Meanwhile, from the live Iran blog on Huffington Post:
12:26 PM ET -- Mousavi martyrdom. A message on Mousavi's official Facebook page "confirms he is on the streets and has 'washed in readiness to be martyred,'" a Persian speaker emails.
Suddenly, my alleged problems seem a little puny...
'Scuse me. I gotta go watch CNN now.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sports?
I hate to sit in the heat and just sweat. It's infinitely worse when you're sitting, packed like a proverbial sardine, amongst other overheated, sweaty bodies. Plus, one of my meds warns to 'avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.' I've learned the truth of that warning - once a lifeguard who never used sunscreen, I can now feel my skin burning within 5 minutes of being in the sun.
So why in God's name am I going to spend three hours sitting in 90 degree heat - probably receiving the aforementioned 'prolonged exposure' - crammed into the uncomfortable bleachers at the 3 + 2 field at Shawnee Mission Park?
Because young DW - my adopted nephew - is playing in the state baseball finals.
And he's good. Scored two runs, a couple RBIs, and played a wicked first base in last night's first round game.
I've gotten to know some of his teammates, too, so their victory last night felt more personal. I've watched those boys rally around DW, providing him great support in the months since his mother - my friend MJ - died.
His teammates loved her, too, you see. She opened her house - and her heart - to all of them. She was the person they'd talk to when they couldn't (or wouldn't) talk to their own parents. A sympathetic and funny woman, she was the adult friend who could help them see things more clearly.
Those boys grieved, too, lined up in a pew at her funeral.
And when the Shawnee Mission West Vikings take the field at 12:30 this afternoon, each of the boys will be taking MJ with them. Her initials are on their wristbands and their helmets. Fans in the stands will be wearing "All the Way with MJ" T-shirts. I've got mine on now. (The sunscreen will come later.)
I was never particularly athletic, and I went to school pre-Title 9, so there was never an opportunity to be part of a high school team. I'd never understood - or even thought about - what that experience brings to a young athlete: discipline, focus, working together for something larger than yourself.
Most of all, the camaraderie. And the love.
A love that has helped sustain a grieving teenager during his time of loss and pain.
So I'll be in the bleachers this afternoon, sweating like a pig and cheering the team on. Rooting for MJ's Team.
So why in God's name am I going to spend three hours sitting in 90 degree heat - probably receiving the aforementioned 'prolonged exposure' - crammed into the uncomfortable bleachers at the 3 + 2 field at Shawnee Mission Park?
Because young DW - my adopted nephew - is playing in the state baseball finals.
And he's good. Scored two runs, a couple RBIs, and played a wicked first base in last night's first round game.
I've gotten to know some of his teammates, too, so their victory last night felt more personal. I've watched those boys rally around DW, providing him great support in the months since his mother - my friend MJ - died.
His teammates loved her, too, you see. She opened her house - and her heart - to all of them. She was the person they'd talk to when they couldn't (or wouldn't) talk to their own parents. A sympathetic and funny woman, she was the adult friend who could help them see things more clearly.
Those boys grieved, too, lined up in a pew at her funeral.
And when the Shawnee Mission West Vikings take the field at 12:30 this afternoon, each of the boys will be taking MJ with them. Her initials are on their wristbands and their helmets. Fans in the stands will be wearing "All the Way with MJ" T-shirts. I've got mine on now. (The sunscreen will come later.)
I was never particularly athletic, and I went to school pre-Title 9, so there was never an opportunity to be part of a high school team. I'd never understood - or even thought about - what that experience brings to a young athlete: discipline, focus, working together for something larger than yourself.
Most of all, the camaraderie. And the love.
A love that has helped sustain a grieving teenager during his time of loss and pain.
So I'll be in the bleachers this afternoon, sweating like a pig and cheering the team on. Rooting for MJ's Team.
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