Have you ever seen ladybugs swarm? Neither had I till today. Must have been the radiant sunshine. Sarah was standing at the sliding glass door and noticed a ladybug and then two and three… and then all sorts of them bustling about on the door and the side of the house. Then we looked and the air was filled with the little winged fellows zipping about looking for a cozy place to hide for the winter.
This hibernation idea seems to be catching…The Bearded Woolly Bears (caterpillars mind you) are out in mass today too. I walked down the highway for a bit and saw dozens of the fuzzy crawlers in various states on the warm black asphalt. My guess is they are drawn to the warmth and then only too late discover this is NOT a safe place to curl up for the winter! Oh dear. (I redirected this one to the bushes. ) Apparently these caterpillars produce their own anti-freeze in order to weather the winter. Then in the Spring they get on to pursuing their destiny– becoming Isabella Tiger Moths!
Well I turned off the highway up an old logging road that now treads through a cleared landscape giving an awesome view out over Malaspina Strait. I found a dry spot to sit and take it in– just a tumble of abandoned logs with grass and ferns popping through and trailing blackberry clambering over….a spot to nestle in and feel the sun hot on my face and listen to the young alders do their song and dance and hear far off the gentle hush of a lonely stand of old firs, left to grandparent the next generation. And before I knew it I was curled up and in hibernation mode–recharging my batteries with the stillness and peace…