It appears all the pretty things disappear from your blog when you don't post on it for nearly a year. For instance, the background. Oh well, I guess it serves me right.
The last post was written a really long time ago and for some reason didn't obey me when I tried to publish it then. I have many, many (many, many, many, many) videos of those caterpillars on my phone in every stage of their life cycles. Sadly, when they emerged as beautiful butterflies they did not make it very long. Perhaps it was too hot for them, but they never flew after plopping out of their chrysalides (it's A WORD, computer, stop underlining it). They were quite pretty but I feel it would somehow dishonor their short insect lives to post pictures of them after their untimely deaths.
So far this summer the most interesting thing to happen to me is the unpacking of some boxes full of childhood memories. And by "memories" I mean "twenty or so storage boxes full of things my grandmother kept for me that I neither asked her to keep nor to deposit in my garage." This. woman. kept. EVERYTHING. We're talking receipts to childhood surgeries. We're talking scrunchies from middle school. (FYI, the computer decides "scrunchie" is a real word but not "chrysalides?")
One afternoon in May she calls me on my way home from work. To better understand the following recreated conversation, realize that I sometimes call my grandmother "Grambo."
Grambo: Are you on your way home?
Me: Yeeeees......?
Grambo: We have your boxes. We're waiting at the covered parking at the mall since it's raining so hard.
Me: Boxes?
Grambo: You know, your stuff from when you were little. We're cleaning out the garage and want to get it all over with once and for all. Just call when you're almost home.
Me: Did we...discuss you bringing me theses boxes?
Grambo: No, we just want to get the garage clean.
I swear to you, this is exactly what happened. This is how, fifteen minutes later, I came to be unloading a rainbow of storage boxes into my own garage. Note to self: putting boxes in other people's garages is the easiest way to clean your own. I had no intention of looking through them any time soon. I mean, they've been sitting there for about fifteen years already, so I think it's alright to wait a few more weeks.
I began looking through some of the stuff last week and it is, shall we say, enlightening. Is this who I was as a child? Who could ever own this many dolls? What kind of person kept their Barbies' shoes in tiny hanging shoe organizers? I plan on taking many photographs to document and discuss my past here. I hope you will join me for this self-discovery process.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Back for the Summer- and Caterpillars!
My apologies to the two people who read this blog, I'm sure you've been in such suspense for the past post-less months. It's the beginning of summer, I have a new computer, and I'm ready to blog!
Two days ago I went outside to water my "garden." It's a collection of 5 plants and a dozen or so miniature cacti on my balcony, but I'm pretty sure it qualifies as a garden. I hadn't watered the previous evening and since it's 175 degrees here now and the plants are up high in the wind, they have to be watered every day or they just look sad. So I fill up my watering can (you get to use quaint items like this when your plants are on a balcony instead of in a yard), head out, and just look at what I found!
Wow! A few wonderful little creatures to brighten my morning! I looked closely at them, then noticed something more sinister. Over half the leaves of my dill plant were missing! Upon closer inspection there were also SEVERAL more of the insects- 17 total, in fact. Regardless of how cute they may be, that is A LOT of caterpillars, and that many caterpillars certainly can decimate a plant. What happened to the caterpillar who spent and entire day eating through one apple, then two pears? That guy at least left something behind!
After counseling with my grandmother about what I should do with the caterpillars (with my grandfather in the background: "Pull them off and squash them") I decide to remove them from the plant, put them in a vase filled with leaves, and cover it with tulle (I KNEW I bought that tulle for a reason!). My long term plan is to find a bush they like and put them there to continue their life cycles, far away from my herbs. Being a pre-k teacher, I already knew that caterpillars' defense mechanism is a green, smelly liquid, but I was still surprised to actually see it! Turns out all those picture books were right! It also turns out that caterpillars do not take kindly to being forcibly removed from their chow-stations by a spoon and (carefully) dropped into a vase. There was some of their slime on the edges of the vase, some on the concrete outside, and yes, it was a bit smelly.
Since I was on my way to a class and really needed to leave, I ran downstairs and pulled some leaves from the nearest bush, stuck them in, and covered the vase. I put the vase outside on a table, just in case. They're cute and all, but I wasn't sure that I want them crawling all over my apartment.
When I get home, those picky little suckers are just sitting there in the middle of uneaten leaves! We'll see what happens. I'm not sure if the principle of "if they get hungry enough, they'll eat what they're offered" applies to caterpillars.
Two days ago I went outside to water my "garden." It's a collection of 5 plants and a dozen or so miniature cacti on my balcony, but I'm pretty sure it qualifies as a garden. I hadn't watered the previous evening and since it's 175 degrees here now and the plants are up high in the wind, they have to be watered every day or they just look sad. So I fill up my watering can (you get to use quaint items like this when your plants are on a balcony instead of in a yard), head out, and just look at what I found!
 | ||||||
| Adorable caterpillars casually visiting my garden |
 | ||
| Evil insect using my well-watered herbs for his own selfish interests |
 |
| Small, but a few more hours and he'll be twice this size |
 |
| Sigh. As much as I'd like to disparage him, this fellow is beautiful. |
After counseling with my grandmother about what I should do with the caterpillars (with my grandfather in the background: "Pull them off and squash them") I decide to remove them from the plant, put them in a vase filled with leaves, and cover it with tulle (I KNEW I bought that tulle for a reason!). My long term plan is to find a bush they like and put them there to continue their life cycles, far away from my herbs. Being a pre-k teacher, I already knew that caterpillars' defense mechanism is a green, smelly liquid, but I was still surprised to actually see it! Turns out all those picture books were right! It also turns out that caterpillars do not take kindly to being forcibly removed from their chow-stations by a spoon and (carefully) dropped into a vase. There was some of their slime on the edges of the vase, some on the concrete outside, and yes, it was a bit smelly.
 |
| Directly after their traumatic removal |
Since I was on my way to a class and really needed to leave, I ran downstairs and pulled some leaves from the nearest bush, stuck them in, and covered the vase. I put the vase outside on a table, just in case. They're cute and all, but I wasn't sure that I want them crawling all over my apartment.
When I get home, those picky little suckers are just sitting there in the middle of uneaten leaves! We'll see what happens. I'm not sure if the principle of "if they get hungry enough, they'll eat what they're offered" applies to caterpillars.
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