this and that

Though I've lived my entire life in an area notorious for its wind (especially in the spring!) I'm starting to think I'm never going to get used to it. We had gusts around 45 miles per hour today, which isn't even close to maximum, but I'm not enjoying it. I got out and walked this morning early when it was still just a little breezy and I admit that I've been trying to avoid going outside ever since . . . so no new pictures today, unfortunately.

But guess what my almost-five-year-old sister brought home yesterday (in reference to my April 27th post)?

Yep. Caterpillars!!

"Bill" and "Clocker" are now in Amy's temporary captivity. My mom, wisely, restricted her from bringing home more than two . . . apparently she learned her lesson back when I was Amy's age. :)

(Incidentally, Amy would wish you to know that Bill is the bigger one and Clocker is the little one. She said at first that Clocker was Bill's mommy, but somehow the idea of one-inch-long Clocker being twice-as-big Bill's mommy seemed a little incongruous.)

not-so-creepy crawlies

Anybody recognize the subject of this picture?

When I was little, I had an obsession with these not-so-creepy crawlies. I never found out what they ended up turning into (moths? butterflies?) but in their stages as fuzzy caterpillars or "woolly bears," I loved them. I'd ask Mom to take me out in the stroller for the sole purpose of collecting them and keeping them as pets.

(There is also one tale where two of my captive caterpillars found their way into my brother's bed. . . . Another story!)

Even when I was older I liked to seek them out. Hannah and I would spend hours plucking them from the swamp grass. On one occasion in late spring when I was probably seven or eight years old, we collected over 500--enough to fill a large peanut butter jar to the top.

(No, I didn't keep them captive that time. They were all granted freedom by the end of the afternoon.)

This morning during my expedition, I was reunited with the woolly bears. Only this time, I had my camera with me.

Caterpillars weren't my only subject this morning, however. In fact, this post will be full of miscellaneous pictures. That's my fault for not posting since Saturday.

The pink flowers above are each about the diameter of a dime. Thanks to the macro setting on my point-and-shoot camera I can get incredibly detailed shots!

 A taste of a cloudy and blustery spring morning on our place:

That's the field my sister and I change irrigation sets on daily in the summertime.

Above--two horses rarely lie down at the same time. Splash is keeping a watchful eye for predators while Drem rests. In awhile, they'll trade shifts.

I love the blurring of Splash's coat pattern in the back of this one. Drem (below) also has beautiful eyes.

Photography is never boring! From caterpillars to flowers to landscapes to horses, it's a dynamic hobby that changes with the seasons, the weather, even moods. You have no idea what agony I went through to pare down today's pictures to the few I have posted here! This is only a fraction of the 360-ish that I took. . . .

So it's April 27th today. Three more days in April, and my April 2010 folder is at 5.99 GB. Is it possible to go three days without clicking the shutter?

We'll find out.