Oh, These Boots Can Walk!!

I thought I'd share a bit about my latest pair of shoes. Until this recent shoe purchase, I had one pair of shoes I would wear. Not for lack of trying of course. My Mama and Dad tried very hard to get me to wear a variety of shoes, but one pair, a single blue, tan, and orange tennis shoe from Target was the only thing I'd allow on my feet for any length of time. Comes with the territory, or so they say. But then came along my puddle-stomping firetruck boots.

It was a blustery, chilly Spring day in the Monterrey area-- Sorry, another reference to the trip I've yet to chronicle, but at least you'll have lots of background to go along with the pictures when I post them. That's gotta count for somethin', right? So, back to my musing, it was a blustery, chilly Spring day in the Monterrey area and after an exciting run along the beach in Sand City, Mama and Dad took me into a quaint shoe store along Cannery Row looking for something they could put on my feet to keep them toes of mine dry while I ran through the salty freshness that I had shown such fondness for. And what they found are now my ocean-tromping firetruck boots.


Man, these are the boots every kid dreams of having to put on and run wild through the wet wilderness. But me, oh, I get them out and on my feet whenever I can. I don't think you could find a place where I couldn't wear these awesome mudkickers. Dad had a different name for them that wasn't all that appropriate for my blogging community. He said it was just the less formal name giving to the type of boots that can get the dirty jobs done sometimes feet have to do. I think he just wants my boots.

Anyways, I'll check in again later. Hunter out.

The Sevenspotted Ladybug

So, of all the bugs in the whole world I could take an interest in, this is the one. I think ladybugs are the coolest bugs in the world. They're friendly, fast, curious, and they can fly like nobody's business! Anybody know where I can get one of these things as a pet?

I guess, first, I should tell you why I love ladybugs so much. Let's start with a little history.

New Jersey, some time in the 1970's, the sevenspotted lady bug is "accidentally" introduced into the environment and quickly becomes a fantastic biological control for aphids. Since then, they have spread naturally across the country, in some places becoming a more efficient predator than the local bugs.

For a small bug, they're relatively big at 7 to 8 mm from head to tail. The body is oval, dome shaped, and there is a white spot on either side of the head. They're spot pattern usually consists of black dots on the orange or red forewings in a 1-4-2 arrangement. The larvae are dark and alligator-like with 3 pair of legs.

These eager hunters seek out aphid infested crops like potatoes, alfalfa, sweet corn, wheat, and pecans. The females can lay more than 1,000 eggs over a three month period and some species even hibernate. It's really quite interesting.

I've had lots of interesting encounters, even had one crawling around in my hand the other day at school until some blue-eyed, ponytailed little girl in boots decided stepping on it would be more fun. But, the coolest experience I've had with a ladybug was on our recent trip to Carmel (I know, I still haven't written about it, but I will, soon, I promise). Even got a picture of it.


So, they we were, just sitting in the Dennis the Menace Park when this ladybug landed on Mama. It was the coolest thing in the world! Dad tried to get a picture of me blowing on it, but he wasn't quite fast enough.

Well, I think that's enough about ladybugs. Now I'm totally going to try and get some more pictures to share. Chao for now, amigos mios.

Hunter

Where is Hunter?

On our recent trip to Carmel (which I have yet to chronicle for you, sorry. I'll do that next.), my Dad made up a song that he woul sing while I would hide. It went kinda something like this:

Where is Hunter?
Where is Hunter?
I don't know.
I don't know.
He's hiding round the corner.
Hiding round the corner.
(And this is where I would suddenly come out of hiding)
I see you.
I see you.

I've been practicing a lot with questions like Where, What, and Who. It's pretty cool the amont of information you can gather if you know how to ask for it. I can now ask: Where is Mama? What's that? Who is it? and a few other variations of those. You wouldn't believe how much talking I'm doing right now. I even impress myself on occassion when I bust out with some crazy long word like Octagon as we're driving down the road and I see a stop sign.

Anyway, just wanted to get a quick note in before I get strapped down for my afternoon feeding. Oh, and I added a new link to bloggers of interest. Leeann Whiffen just wrote a book about her son and his recovery from Autism. Mama has read it and Dad's reading it now.

Check ya later, my peeps. Hunter out.