DAY 167: PORTRAIT of HOPPIE

I like grasshoppers.

I remember catching them in a big field beside our house with my brother when we were only three and four years old.

Everything about them was fascinating, and we both thoroughly examined with wonder the grasshoppers we caught.

We observed their proclivity to form a dark brown chewed-tobacco looking spit from their mouths when they were seemingly nervous. The spit was kind of powerful, as it could stain your fingers. 

Sometimes we felt very lucky to find two grasshoppers together - one would be "piggy-back" riding the other. Of course back then, we just thought they were, indeed, piggy-back riding OR that they might even be twins! How exciting! We had no idea they were in the process of reproduction.

We examined everything about grasshoppers short of tasting them.

Some people do eat grasshoppers, though. I've heard of chocolate covered ones that are considered a delicacy for some people. (No thanks.) If they were really that tasty, they wouldn't have to be covered with chocolate now would they?

I will have to catch a grasshopper this summer and re-examine the specimen. I am wondering if my memory is right about their hind legs having spikes that are smooth when you feel them in one direction, but are spiky if you feel them the wrong way. I would like to feel that again.

Having handled lots of grasshoppers as a young girl, I know they can easily survive accidental amputation of a limb - and no fluid comes out at the point of amputation (at least I don't remember any). Loss of a limb does, however, introduce some challenging hop direction issues for the affected insect.

I have a little grandson now, and he is getting big enough for me to introduce him to the joys of grasshoppers soon. I am looking forward to it! We will get to that right after the lightning bugs and june bugs. : )

(Oh - the above picture is one I took of a little grasshopper in our garden)...

DAY 166: A STAR IS BORN

Our first squash & zucchini came in this week. Heaven! We're having some tonight!

I was so surprised when I first saw how zucchini and squash are born.

The plants have huge leaves and stems that serve to shield the tender vegetables from the sun. Very soon, great blossoms form. These are edible (and a delicacy, really) - but if you eat them, you miss out on the end product.

The picture above is a zucchini from our garden, halfway between being a pretty flower and a tasty veggie! In only a day or so, the flower will be usurped into the fruit of the plant and the zucchini will be much larger. It is simply amazing!

If you have several thriving squash or zucchini plants in your garden, it will stay very busy keeping them picked, shared, cooked, pickled or frozen. But it is so worth it! The garden variety is just so superior to anything you can buy at the store. I get a little desperate for them sometimes in winter and I will buy them, but am always disappointed.

From the garden, they do NOT disappoint.

A tender, flavorful miracle of nature...that's what they are.

DAY 165: HEAT WAVE...

 

The extreme heat we've been experiencing for the past week or so reminds me of this picture of my children that I took in 1982. In those days, we had no swimming pool and no air conditioning - but we still found ways to beat the heat. Elizabeth is administering a cold splash from the garden hose to Matthew, who's standing in an old wash tub of water. I love the look of surprise on his face and also the determined look of my daughter as she administers relief!

We didn't have tanning beds back then either, as evidenced by my sister "laying out" in the background.  Mmmmm! Copppertone!

It's almost midnight. The wind is getting up and I think we are in for a storm.  Over and out for now. I need to jump off here to watch it come in...  

DAY 164: GOODBYE

Yet another goodbye was said today.

This time, it was for a man full of personality who lived his 85 years on this earth to the very fullest. The family he leaves behind are a testament to his goodness. 

May he rest in peace. +

DAY 163: ALL ABOARD!

 The mural-in-progress is quickly taking shape on Jim Tabor & Connie Rakes' Willie A's Restaurant at the corner of Depot & MLK. 

Artist Susan Crum-Cox is doing a great job in recapturing the feel of a by-gone era in Lebanon, when the busy train depot was located just across the street and the tracks ran so close between the old Bill's Cafe and Sunnyside Saloon that those buildings must have quivered every time a locomotive passed through. 

The building was vacant for years after the closing of Bill's Cafe; the new owners are working very hard on serving up good food and a welcoming atmosphere there, and have recently begun to host live bands on the weekends in the outdoor waterfall garden.