September 1st

I can't tell you how often I've heard people say that September 1st signals the end of summer. If you look at a calendar, this isn't true. And if you're outside on a day like today, in 90 degree heat, there is no way you could believe it was the end of summer. A week ago our granddaughter spent the day with us, and learned about the world of insects. We were on a crusade to find a monarch caterpillar for a kindergarten teacher I know. She lives in town and has a difficult time finding the caterpillars, which are a very important lesson in her classroom at the beginning of the year. So the granddaughter and I headed out.

She was very excited at first, but then decided it was too hot, too far to walk, and not fun looking on the underside of all the milkweed leaves. If she saw a bug she jumped back with a screech. Well, this had to change, so I let her look through my close-up lens, a 100mm macro for my Canon 30D camera. All of a sudden the world opened up, and she thought maybe bugs were kind-of cool! As I continued to look for the caterpillars I let her take some photos. The camera was attached to a sturdy tripod and we were staying in one area for a while, so this was a good time to teach her the importance of looking closely at the world around her. It was a great experience, and we did find one caterpillar to get my friend started with her project. Fortunately we also found a Milkweed Moth caterpillar, so my granddaughter was able to have one for herself. We talked about care and feeding, and the importance of releasing the creature which emerges from it's "room."

A great day. I'm sure we'll have some other excellent adventures soon.