I wish I could remember everything we did this weekend. It was mostly rainy. Most of the Family did church. (one of us usually stays home with Titus). Mami got a beautiful rose from church since it was Mother's day. They had kind of a fun congregational quiz (at the time kn one knew the winners would get an absolutely perfect long stem red rose.) One question who had the most kids at church that day. Mami tied with a couple of others for 4 kids. She came in second for the next question which was who had the most kids. And older lady had 10. Mami only had seven....if only we had tried harder. I will say while on the not of Mother's Day, I am the most blessed man on the planet with such a great mom for my kids. For myself, I greedily confess I have the most Godly, loving, sexy, caring, talented, wonderful wife in the world. I feel sorry for everyone else because they can only come second. To my own mom I say, I love you and thank you for my birth. You have been an awesome mom. But I am sorry you only come in second as wives go (haha).
OK, some out of order stuff from the past couple of days....we went fishing today. The main target was catfish, but the fishing hole we were at has notoriously smart catfish and they stole all our chicken livers bait. So we switched to pan fry fish and got about seven. A few given us by a man who liked to fish but not eat them near by us. I started to sprinkle while we fished but we stuck it out and soon the rain turned to really wonderful warm sunshine and dried us out.
Yesterday the kids took me on a hike up to the local pinnacles. There are three, we went to the second easiest, Indian Camp. It was beautiful. I have been on my back due to my back for so long the climb down was interesting for me as my legs shaked all the way down. But I am rebuilding stamina. I brought my walking stick, that made things easier. We plan on a climb to a harder peak later this week and going fishing again. Although the weather says maybe some t-storms and a frost this week...oy-vey.
Cynthia is staying with friends in Ohio and in full job hunt mode. We ask for your prayers for her. She is talented and would be an asset to any company. But we are living in the "new" "O" economy, and that worries me. But I won't give up prayers or hope for her. After all, the only place we have left open for our circus is the bearded lady and she has already decided to give up the family biz. (LOL)
I believe it snowed in hell this past weekend as I heard Kyle say, "I am full" after a meal. ALl 6'7" of him was full....still can't believe I heard it.
Jim caught a cold yesterday and is suffering through the shakes and the icky feelings that come with it. Keep him in your prayers.
Victor has been practicing his unicycle so much he wore out a tire. So much so it exploded at one point yesterday confining everyone in the area that a shotgun went off. Thank God for spare parts.
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| The Sleeping Giant |
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| Amphitheater in foothills. |
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If you could flip yourself off your back and hurl four times your body length into the air, would you? If you were an Eyed Elater, of course you would! And you would do it with a very loud "click", because you would want to get away from whatever turned you on your back. Most likely, that culprit would be one of your personal predators and you would want to avoid being its lunch.
As fascinating as this acrobatic trick may be, why would you, as an the adult form of Alaus oculatus, a species of click beetle, be of interest to a gardener? Actually, the adult click beetle isn't of much significance to gardeners, but its larval form, better known as a wireworm, is.
"Wireworm" is the name given to most larvae of the very large click beetle family. Many of these larvae are notorious pests that consume the roots of cereal crops, causing serious damage. Unlike its many cousins, the Eyed Elater larva is ferocious meat-eater that dines on many other noxious larvae, including those of wood-boring beetles, flies, and other undesirables.
Found under logs and other dark, damp places, the Alaus oculatus larva looks like a stocky, yellowish-brown, segmented worm. It has a flat, dark brown rectangular head that ends in 2 powerful jaws. The jaws, which resemble small crab legs, are used to disable and dismember prey. An individual is about 2 inches long. It looks rather dangerous at the posterior end, too. The 10th segment has 2 anal hooks, 10-12 spines, and setae (hairs) in front of the anus. The Eyed Elater spends most of its life in the larval form, perhaps as long as 2-5 years. All the longer to do its good deeds!
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| Hell's Kitchen Cave |
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| Now these guys are just pure fun. Millipedes differ from centipedes by having two pairs of legs per body segment. Centipedes will bite, Millipedes do not. Their defense is chemical. Bother them and they roll into a ball and emit a scent to ward off predators. This yellow and black species is sweet smelling. Put one in your hands and shake it. Smells like Marachino cherries or amaretto. In other words, a cyanide derivative. This pretty yellow and black millipede shown in the photo above was identified for me by perhaps one of the top millipede experts (if not the foremost expert) in the United States- Dr. Rowland Shelley. I had posted this photo on bugguide.net and he was kind enough to review and comment on the photo: "These 3 photos are of an unusual, yellow banded form of Apheloria virginiensis (Drury, 1770) (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae). I'm aware of the form's existence, but I would not expect this color variant way down in Alabama, at the southern extremity of the generic range. A.v. corrugata, in Kentucky, exhibits this very color pattern, but it has not been collected in central Tennessee, where it would be expected if this were corrugata here in Alabama. So, this form is under study and it may be a new species or new subspecies of A. virginiensis. Rowland Shelley." (source) That would be very exciting to know that we have discovered a "new" species right here literally in our own backyard! Of course, we really wouldn't be the "discoverer"- that honor goes to whomever is willing to go work through the ardurous task of describing the new species. Another interesting note about these types of millipedes is that they possibly excrete the toxin cynide through their "skin." While handling the above millipede, I did notice a white liquid being expelled from the "skin" of the millipede. Who knew? An interesting abstract regarding this phenomenom is located on the ScienceDirect website. The paper title is Cynogenesis in Plants and Athropods. |
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| If you have to ask..... |
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| Love this old beauty |
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| child labor |
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