following the trail

Today, after being cooped up inside for a couple of days with sickness and beginning to feel sorry for myself , I sought refuge at my mums . After Fynn attempted to destroy her house, touch, open, push and prod every thing he knew he couldn't I decided it was a good idea if we got outdoors for some fresh air and a stroll. It didn't take long for Fynn to find a mass of ants to lay in and closely observe as they crawled all over his hands and up his pants. Myles and I decided to find out where these ants were coming from and where they were so busily going. We began with the mass of ants Fynn had found at the front gate and followed their trail over and under trees, through tunnels so small only an ant could clearly fit through, up a branch of a tree, along the edge of the fence, down a crevice of bricks and finally we reach it.......their palace...their castle....their home. then the questions began - How have they built it, how do they get it to stick to the wall, what are they carrying in there, what do they eat?

I love to get down to the kids level and see the world as they see it, a small tiny busy world of ants building their own castles, cities, and towns, to shelter in, to store food in, a place to have and shelter their future generations. Ah....the imagination can wild in place like this.

After The Rain

Today we spent the day at grandmas with my sister and her kids. It was a hot, muggy day with hot and bothered children and adults all suffering from the heat. The kids were in the pool most of the day and when they weren't they were consuming ice blocks or milkshakes. Its amazing the way an ice block can change ones mood. So when the rain thankfully came down this afternoon and cooled everything and everyone down, including withered moods, we headed outside as soon as it stopped, the kids in just their undies to cool down in the puddles (oh how I wish I could of been jumping in the puddles in just my undies) and to see what other creatures were enjoying the cool air, remaining rain drops and puddles.

With great delight and squeals of excitement we discovered that there were lots of other critters out enjoying the aftermath of the downpour, including a family of grasshoppers (mummy, daddy, baby and grandma) who were clearly having a family meeting on a leaf or as suggested by Myles, they could of just been sun baking, a shy snail that wouldn't come out of its shell (particularly once it was picked up by the kids), and a beautiful yellow ladybug on her way to eat the aphids on grandmas roses.

One of the kids asked where all the grasshoppers came from and another replied "from another world". How right they are, these little alien looking creatures, with huge eyes and long legs get such a bad wrap. We watched and observed them for a while, checked out how many legs they had, how many different coloured ones we could find, and held them in our hands feeling their little hairy legs tickling the palm of our hands.

the green grocers song......

I love showing the kids the fascinating world of bugs, beetles, butterflies and all our backyard critters that sometimes take some effort to find, or require an insect 'adventure hunt' that can take up an afternoon of wandering, pondering, peering into small crevices or under rocks, following a trail of busy ants to their house/castle/mound and watching them busily build their home and carry food ten times the size of them, or, follow the silvery trails of snails left behind from their night wanderings in the garden, inevitably leading to the vege patch or the most lushest of plants.

The cycle of the seasons can sometimes be best expressed by the behaviour of these creatures. The friendliest of bugs that indicates summer has begun in this part of the world is the singing of the - 'green grocer', 'witch doctor', 'black prince' and 'cherry nose' (cicada's). Up close cicadas are fascinating and beautiful little creatures with their delicate leaf like wings that feel like cellophane and huge eyes. After Daniel caught the first green grocer we have seen this season the other night, Myles discovered that, if a cicada sings when you tickle it's underbelly - its a male. Apparently, male cicadas sing "courtship songs" to attract females. Being the bug nerd I am, we also discovered (after consulting the big bug book) that these amazing little creatures survive below the ground by gnawing on plant roots and when the nymph (baby) is fully grown it climbs up the nearest tree trunk and molts - leaving behind a shell of its former self. So now we know what those little empty bodies are on trees that crunch when you squash them.

Daniel and I can remember catching cicadas as kids and doing the tickle test. However, we have also noticed that there aren't as many cicadas anymore, especially the black, brown and red nosed variety. Bugs are a good barometer of whats going on the environment and I sometimes wonder if this decline in cicadas is just that. Summer just wouldn't be summer without the singing of the cicadas.