Ticket to Ride

Sometimes I see things in the garden that just kind of boggle my mind.  Like this, for instance.  The Sweat Bee (Genus Augochlora) landed on some rudbeckia in garden while I was right there with my macro in hand.  So, I focused in and started to line up a few shots...when I realized that the bee had something attached to its leg.  The bee was busy gathering pollen, all the while trying to shake off the hitchhiker.  My initial impression was that it was an ant hanging on, although that didn't make any sense.  But as I looked at the images on a big screen, I believe it may be some sort of tiny spider - at least, it appears to me to have 8 legs.  If so, it was quite an aggressive move on the part of the spider to take down the bee.  Anyway, this is all sheer speculation on my part and I am waiting for someone more knowledgeable than me in my entomology group to weigh in.  I'll update this if I learn more.

I met up with two friends this morning and we headed to a huge lake about a half hour away where we enjoyed a lunch cruise.  The weather was perfect and we sat on the upper deck enjoying a nice breeze, good conversation, great views and a good lunch.  Very enjoyable.  The only negative for me was the music which makes it very hard for someone with only one hearing ear to follow conversation.  It was something I expected though, so I just followed along as well as I could and the rest of the time enjoyed the views.  

Tomorrow is a holiday here in the USA and it is also Jax's 3rd birthday (he was born in a shelter in Texas on 4 July 2021).  He is going to be at day care tomorrow where they have already planned a little birthday celebration for him.  And then we will spoil him some more when we pick him up.  Hubs is heading out in the morning a long bike ride with his riding club and I plan to take photos of anything that catches my fancy.

Dark with lime today.

xo
Debbi