Monday, March 01, 2010

sunday prayers



It was Sunday.  A day to rest.


And rest I did.


During my yo-yo migration between, Oregon, California, and Mexico these last two months, my "nightstand reading" -- as we called it in another life -- managed to accrete to Mississippi delta levels.


Mostly magazines.


Reading two-month old National Geographics seems almost a pre-pubescent indulgence.  But two-month old news magazines take on an entirely different tone.


It is a bit disconcerting to read that Congress will inevitably pass a health care reform bill before the end of the year -- when I have a hint that is not quite how things turned out.  My eyebrows can arch only so far.


The hammock was a great site for my trek through history's re-edit room.  Carrots.  Water.  A warm day.


Somewhere between the Peru floods and the story about who would win the Super Bowl, I reached for my water bottle.  Only to discover that it was being defended by a praying mantis.  Even though it looked far more like a boxing mantis -- in its defensive mode.


And a young mantis.  Perhaps, the smallest I have ever seen.  But even the youngsters have the look that they were left behind on Earth by disciplinarian parents from Neptune.


I have shared photographs of as many of the interesting creatures that I can capture with my camera.  This one almost got away, though.


I grabbed my camera and tried several shots -- all out of focus.  I have not yet learned to use my macro setting effectively.  What you see at the top of this post is the best I could do.


A hammock.  A fascinating insect.  A good rest.


What better way to spend a Sunday?

 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Watching reruns of "Lost".

Chrissy y Keith said...

I love Mantis. When ever I find one, I let them ride around on me for a while before I set them free.

1st Mate said...

Aha, so now we have to wonder: was that a boy mantis, doomed to lose his head over some female someday? I hear the males are smaller...

Merida Mikey said...

Not so sure that's a praying mantis. We have an insect here in Merida that is exactly the same as the one you've capturd on film. I originally thought it was a baby praying mantis, but a friend informed me it was not! Sorry, I forget what the heck she called it, but it sure does look like a baby praying mantis.

Steve Cotton said...

Laurie -- Television? Not in this house, young lady. My libertarianism only goes so far.

Chrissy -- And the one on my water bottle was free to stay as long as it wanted.

1st Mate -- I never thought of that. He could have been the next tasty treat for the Madame LaFarge of the insect set.

Mikey -- You may be correct. The abdomen did not look like a praying mantis. More like a leaf. I will do a little research. A followup for another post, perhaps.

Jackie said...

Now this is a Praying Mantis caught on "film" at the Milwaukie City Hall last spring.
http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/43834/2395769500037479021S500x500Q85.jpg