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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Maiden Bug

Since we're on the topic of bugs, I'll mention an interesting phenomenon for an area of the world so red: an influx of blue bugs. I'd never noticed anything in Grover other than R-E-D, and on this trip in particular I wouldn't have thought to see anything but red. I suppose the blue bugs were there just to break the monotony.

Besides the crazy long horned beetle that attached Phillip, there were a lot of damselflies out and about.

While we were setting up dinner on Thursday night, someone pointed to a damselfly.

"What's that?" they asked.

"It's a dragonfly," said Reid/Grandpa.

"Actually," I said, my encyclopedic self kicking in, "It's a damselfly."

"Must be a Canadian thing," said Reid, "What is it? A little dragonfly?"

"We do have them in Canada," I said, " And it's kind of like a dragonfly, but not quite. See how its wings fold together like a butterfly's when it lands? Dragonfly wings stay flat like moth wings. They're a lot smaller than most dragonflies and..."

I decided that was a good time to stop talking. No one really seemed to be caring...or listening. My dear husband tried to listen, but he just isn't that interested in bugs and couldn't pay attention for long.

When I was little I had a bug collection and everyone told me it was weird (except Don--thanks, Don!). Now I'm thinking that it may have been a little strange. Didn't everybody have a bug collection growing up? Didn't everybody spend their weekends by the lake doing species identification? I guess not.

Anyway, while we're eating dinner, Andrew tried to use his new-found knowledge.

"Oh, there's another maiden bug," he said, pointing to a damselfly.

"Damselfly," I corrected.

"Right," he said, "Damselfly."

I spent the rest of the weekend listening to people pointing out maiden bugs. I'm still not sure if they were making fun of me or if they were making fun of Andrew. Maybe they were just mocking both of us simultaneously. That would save time...

3 comments:

  1. That's hilarious.
    Well... I expect most girls had lists of every species of dog and horse they wanted when they grew up. When I was 7, I knew an awful lot about the different kinds of dinosaurs. Also, when I was 7, I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up. But I didn't have a collection of dinosaur bones, unfortunately...

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  2. Yes, I cloth diaper. You were actually my inspiration with Rachel. I didn't know anything about it but wanted to when I came across your post on The Mothers Lounge about them. So I got onto cotton babies and got the trial pack, as I waited for that I was given all my mothers old cloth diapers as well.

    I'm hooked on them...they're much better for Lela and much more cost effective. I love the indian prefolds the bumkins covers, and especially hemp. I've developed many more opinions as well, if you want to hear them. I want to get the diaper package and try AIO and pockets. I tell everyone I know to give it a try, it's worth it. Thanks!

    Oh, and if it's any consolation...maiden fly is a lot easier to remember then damselfly.

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  3. Autumn! I'm so glad you're cloth diapering--I definitely would like to hear your opinions. So few mothers that I know use cloth diapers...

    Maybe I'll start up a conversation on the Mother's Lounge and we can continue this there--we'll see when I get around to it. I'm getting ready for Rachel's b-day now so it probably won't be until after Sunday. :)

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