Fork Tailed Bush Kaydid Nymph

I mean, just look at this.  Have you ever seen anything like it? This.  This, my friends.. These are the things that keep me up at night - chasing down the identity of a new friend, someone completely alien to me.  I mean, look at those feelers, the black eyes, and that mandible..  Those legs! Those feet!  And the red stripes.. How did this come to look like this?  Seriously.. It's more than I can stand.  I am completely infatuated..  Mesmerized..  And to think.. when this wild critter grows into an adult it will add to the cacophony of sound I hear right outside of my window as I type this.  Welcome to my garden young katydid.  Hark!  The season of insects is upon us!

Monarda

I live to walk in our garden. Rain or shine. It lures me out of bed.. wondering what is blooming, what has stretched, what is ready to leave the plant, who feeds on what? Will the zinnias ever burst? What's taking the watermelons so long to grow? Will the potatoes rot before we get them out of the ground? How does a winter squash grow so big?? 

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