Creepy Crawlies!

I would never have foreseen this 15 years ago - that I would relish the reappearance of insects and spiders each spring.  That I would scour the garden for anything that creeps or crawls.  That I would be excited to find the larval form of a common firefly.  And yet, here I am...with the aforementioned larval form of a firefly.  Interestingly, the larva is actually bigger than the adult firefly.  And you'd never guess by looking at it that it would become a rather benign and even pretty firefly.  

The woods are positively alive with birdsong now - the white throated sparrows (who will soon depart for their northern breeding grounds) are all tuning up their songs, and the cardinals are singing all day as are the house finches.  And I heard an Eastern Phoebe just now, the first of this spring.  The chipping sparrows are back and some purple finches were passing through.  Such a wonderful time of year.

I caught up with bestie Peg on the phone today.  And I spent several really enjoyable hours going through Day 4 of my images, which was almost entirely birds.  I'm enjoying this process so much.

Phoebe continues to hold her own.  She isn't eating as much as we'd like, but she is comfortable and enjoying lap time.  It is so hard when our beloved pets get old, when we know that their time with us is growing short.  

South African dark today with nougat.

xo
Debbi