Love Bugs 7: Slow Moving Gastropods


Soft Shell-less Slimy Slug
Slippery slugs need to stay in moist places, so when it rains they like to come out and visit. In dry weather they retreat.

A baby beaver who lost her mama...

this is serious! we have to help her!
First we heard little meows, which sounded just like a kitten, and then a tiny little baby beaver swam right up to the rock we were sitting on. It was absolutely adorable, and not scared of us at all. We tried to help her find her parents. You can see the baby beaver if you look very closely down from my right toes. Thomas is looking at her too...

Love Bugs 6: Baby Bugs

Lu-bug


This is a very rare bug that lives only in my house. She is just a baby, but I already know alot about her, like:
- she laughs at all my jokes
- she sticks her tongue out when she smiles
- she has a strong right hook to keep me in line
- she has long legs and likes long baths
- she and I have a language all our own
- I have to be very gentle around her, and pretend I am a butterfly landing on her head
- she is learning to crawl, military style, and can wiggle across a room pretty fast
- she loves to eat, and can put back two jars of baby food in ten minutes
- she is teething, but has no teeth
- foccacia makes her laugh
- she is fast and she knows how to fly...

A Ruler

Measure the Universe
A list of things that we measured today:
Phineas = 37"
Luce = 26.5"
Crochet snake from Candace = 12.5"
Bone outside the gate = 6"
Front wheel of Bert's tractor = 27.5" diameter
Back wheel of Bert's tractor = 51" diameter
Ladybug = 1/8"
Asparagus (height of biggest one) = 37"
Guppie trap = 7.5" diameter
Fish (approximate size from "swimming hole") = 16"

Today we also planted 6 basil plants; dug up 5 worms (that are now in the refrigerator!); and took a ride in the wheelbarrow.

Love Bugs 5: Rhinoceros Beetle



The Strongest Man in the World
Rhinoceros beetles are the strongest animals on the planet in relation to their own size. They can lift up to 850 times their own weight. This beetle is SOLID. It was gentle and slow and wise. In Asia people keep them as pets because they are clean and easy to hold, just like Thomas.

The Band and the Bees


Kellie got the instruments for the band. We practice every day. I play the guitar and the bells and used to play the tamborine (before I put a big hole through it). We are a country-metal folk-rock band. Here are some ideas from some of our songs:
"wild strawberries growing outside my door"
"i get my mail at the hardware store, and do my fishin' from the kitchen"
"I am tradin' in my computer for a canoe"
"make me a unicorn"

Love Bugs 4: The Bold Jumping Spider

Of all the creepy things here, this one is also crafty and smart. She has these crazy green eyes that flash, and she is fast and looks right at me, saying "don't even think of putting me in that jar!" I can't catch her - and she makes me laugh!

The Great Spider Chase
The bold jumping spider does not spin a web, rather she hunts her prey like a large cat, staying perfectly still and then pouncing. I first met her hunting this wasp (that got away).

Thunder and Lightening

Spinning in the Rain


We got caught in a giant rainstorm. The rain here comes in big round drops, and it comes very fast. We were on a tricycle ride and had to take shelter in the airplane hangars. Farmer Bert has an amazing little plane that I love to look at. Hopefully one day he will take me flying. Mama has been making kites, but so far none of them fly; we have alot to learn about aerodynamics.

Love Bugs 3: Rat Snake

On, Not Over!
We have a Rat Snake living in our staircase down to the river. Papa and I saw him (her? how can we tell?) the other day, kinked up like she swallowed a spring. The Rat Snake does this as defense: stays very still and kinks up like a spring. It is not dangerous, but is about 4' long.

I learned a very important rule about walking in the woods today - "On, Not Over!" - which means that you should never step over something when you can't see the other side, lest you disturb some slumbering animal, like a Black Rat Snake.

The Sky is at the Banks of the Red River*

the Red Red River
We woke up this morning and the river turned red. It is an amazing transformation, like Luciene sitting up and turning over and laughing at me sing.
*Anatolia Story

Love Bugs 2: Hellgrammite


He's Climbing Out!
Kellie found this larva down by the river. It can swim and has BIG pinchers. It eats minnows. It will turn into a big flying Dobsonfly with 5" wingspan when it grows up, which can take 2-5 years!
We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn't ever feel like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed—only a little kind of a low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all—that night, nor the next, nor the next.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim, Chapter 12

Love Bugs 1: Click Beetle

Click-Clack!







The Click Beetle has a special part of its spine that makes a loud clicking sound. When it clicks, it also can bounce high in the air. They also click when they need to flip over from their backs to their feet. We tried to get this click to do that trick.


The Family Band



Huckleberry Phineas and the Carpenter Bees!
We've been practicing and writing songs about the moon. Kellie plays the acoustic guitar. I play the acoustic guitar too, the tambourine, the bells, and the fiddle so far. Mama plays the triangle. Kellie brought all these amazing instruments home from her travels. Since the bugs here make so much noise, we are going to have bugs in the band.