Random Things

I love twilight this time of year. The sun sets a bit earlier and the crispness of fall hangs right around the corner. It's nice to sit out back and enjoy the evenings listening to the birds and crickets, or watching butterflies and grasshoppers flit about. And this past thursday, I found a few extra bonuses that I've never noticed before.

Earlier this summer, my aunt introduced me to moon flowers and gave me a few small plantings from her garden. I didn't expect them to bloom this year, so it was a big suprise to find a bloom ready to go at any time. I kept checking and checking and finally got to see it open. The flower itself is much larger than I expected it to be and has a delightful fragrance, both delicate and citrusy, much like a fainter version of my Pope John Paul II rose. It's a very pleasant and graceful flower and I can't wait for it to multiply and grow taller so that I can see it from my windows. Click on the thumbnails to see the larger pictures.

Friends and family know that I have a bit of a weird streak in me. Okay, so maybe "a bit" is an understatement...especially given my next wonderous discovery. How I never noticed this before is beyond me. I love spending time outside, especially in the evening and at night, and I pretty much always have, whether it was during my childhood when I'd be out late playing flashlight tag or when I was older and just enjoyed sitting on the grass under the moon. I have always liked bugs and I love cicadas - not only listening to them, but also watching them fly or listening to them croak in protest when I pick them up. Soooo...for the last few nights I've been watching the robins throw brown chunks around our yard while they peck at them, but I couldn't figure out what the "chunks" actually were. That is, until after I finished marveling at my new moon flower and my husband noticed that all over our yard, cicadas ready to escape their larval shells were crawling in the grass. I of course couldn't resist the chance to play with them...and of course just had to share...

The final thing I discovered that night is that my cat, the youngest one, Lucien, likes to play with bubbles.

On another note, my husband found a baby bunny while he was mowing the yard a few weeks ago and it's such a cute little thing that I figured I'd share since I'm already posting other pictures.

Have a good rest of the night!