Sunbathing

Long-horned grasshopper.  This fellow belongs to the Tettigoniidae family, along with the katydids, rather than to  the Acrididae family of grasshoppers.  His wings (short on this one) and his lack of an ovipositor mark him as a male.  He is a native of New Zealand.  If you look closely you can see his stick-like mouthparts to the right of his front leg.

I found this grasshopper in the long grass basking in the early morning sunshine.  How sweet those words are- early morning sunshine.  The sunshine lasted all morning, but things are back to normal now.  The low clouds have returned and the mountains have gone.

One year ago:  fog at sunrise.