Skip to main content

Subletting

By
We have a new tenant...

Last month, I found a baby praying mantis in my herb farm.  An eensy, weensy little thing, I simply thought "Oh how cool" and moved on with life.  It didn't even dawn on me that this little stinker could be responsible for my then eroding basil.  (Fear not, the basil is fine now.)

Yesterday afternoon, I had tea with a very dear friend of mine.  While discussing the upcoming Olympics, the proper way to point your foot (we were both ballerinas) and back sweat -you know, the finer things in life usually mentioned during afternoon tea- we noticed a HUGE praying mantis on the window.  So cool.  I mentioned to her that I had seen a mini one in my herbs earlier in the summer, and we continued our conversation about romance and American Ninja Warrior.

In the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that my poor window box is just getting annihilated.  For the most part, I've blamed the scorching summer heat for that, but I couldn't help but notice the little holes in the foliage of my marigolds, geraniums and zinnias.  (Shut up.  I am fully aware that I sound like an old granny).  

I submit:


Can heat zap and wilt?  Yes.  Can it poke holes?  No.  But this can:


Any guesses who might be responsible for that?  Can anyone tell me what it is?  I'll give you a hint:  it starts with a  "p" and ends in "raying mantis shit."

This morning, as I was out on the patio, watering the plants, I came across this:


He's back!  And he's bigger!  Still a tiny, spindly little thing, but nevertheless he has grown.  Initially, he startled me, but then I saw his mouth working.  Have you ever seen a praying mantis eat?  It's fascinating.  At that moment, I started to notice some baby wasps lingering around my flowers.  As if following my gaze, baby mantis did a back flip onto the next flower and it occurred to me that, perhaps, he has been keeping the wasps at bay.  Is he ninja-ing them, chowing down and then defecating on my flowers?  Disgusting, I know, but if he is responsible for minimizing the wasp population, then he can stay.

He'd better just keep out of the herb farm.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Comment if you wish. Or don't.

Popular posts from this blog

Let's be frank...

By
Habibi and I are not at all fanciful.  In fact, every time I try to do something cute (and/or Pinterest-y), I end up frustrated and with egg on my face.  So, we've just decided to embrace our straightforward, blunt way of doing things.  To give you an idea of how we roll, let me tell you a little bit about our life journey together... On our second date, I told Habibi that I really wasn't interested in ever getting married.  Sure I like liked  him ("like liking" would soon change to love), but it just wasn't something I planned for my future.  Seven months later when he proposed (see how that went for me?), I simply said yes.  There was no video, no fireworks, no wild story, no pictures.  He told me to close my eyes (I insisted on sitting on the floor if I had to close my eyes because I was afraid he'd push me on the ground) and when I opened them, there he was, on one knee, holding a ring.  Afterwards, we kissed and he told me I had co...
3 comments
Read more

I Am So A Hipster: The Hipster's Way of Letting You Know That He/She Is Not, In Fact, A Hipster

By
I just got home from having a great coffee date with a great friend. For those of you who know me personally, you will recall that I am somewhat awkward socially.  A few weeks back, my friend and I decided we wanted to meet for coffee at a local chocolaterie .  (We both lived/studied in France and anything with a European flair makes us nostalgic.)  Now, this may be news to her if she is reading this post, but my first awkward moment was when she walked in the door.   Do I get up and give her a hug since I haven't seen her in nearly two years?   (A normally functioning person would have done so.)   Do I give her a high five?   ( Not  what higher thinkers typically do.)   What????   (Yes, these are the things that plague my brilliant mind.)  Fortunately, she was graceful enough to have seemingly overlooked my stiff greeting and we were able to begin reminiscing. After a wonderful and uplifting chat about France, running, gossipin...
3 comments
Read more

Anouchka's Beauty Tips

By
When asked to share her beauty secrets, Audrey Hepburn responded with the following: For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. Many of us can picture Audrey Hepburn saying these wonderful things, given her affinity for the simple life and showing charity.  However, the true author of this excerpt is often debated.  Regardless, it's a nice thought and I find it somewhat inspirational.  It's true, I am not the embodiment of beauty, grace and class like Audrey was.  In fact, a better description for me might be goofy-looking-socially-awkward-verbally-inarticulate-obsessive-compulsive-domineering-halfwoman.  Nevertheless, d...
2 comments
Read more