Untidy Exuberance (Annual Ladybug Picnic)

A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world...
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
Live with the beetle, and the wind. - Mary Oliver

Most Alive Monday: Ladybug Picnic

Scenes from our annual ladybug release...

Annual Ladybug Picnic

We had our annual Ladybug launch in the garden and the girls were feisty! We found a cozy spot for our Mantis egg case and are waiting for them to emerge.

It's been no picnic for our family though!

One day blurred into the next beginning with that mysterious illness that landed us in the ER. The moments to follow were filled with fitful sleep from residual trauma, and days and days of irritability. Just when we thought our lives would settle into their familiar grooves, the trees bloomed in all their beautiful splendor, releasing a thick, evil yellow cloud that enveloped everything. Satchel's eyes nearly swelled shut and were red and painful. They days to follow were filled with trips to the doctor for prescriptions that induced blood curdling NOOOOOOOOOs and some kicking mama; day after day of hosing off the deck and sidewalk to keep from tracking the pollen inside; nights of fitful sleep and loads of irritability. Then the rain came and just when we thought it washed that spider out, we landed in the ER once again because of a sudden, rapid and extremely labored breathing with wheezing. (Why do these things seem to happen when we should all be sleeping?) Satchel was having an allergic asthmatic reaction, his O2 sat. was very low and he was given an oral steroid and nebulizer treatment to open his airways. There will be more kicking and screaming over the next 4 days in order to administer new meds.

I feel like I've been bludgeoned. I just want him to feel well.

Ladybug Picnic

"Mama, yook...it's a Dada ladybug with a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny little car" - Satch

While I did some work in the garden, Satch and his Dada released a bunch ladybugs that we picked up at Wolftrap Nursery. They went right to work looking for aphids and other yummy ladybug snacks. Video at the bottom of this post!

The camera continues to work sporadically, but I hope to get photos as the garden fills out and our nest is completely feathered.

I built a garden teepee for satch to play in with all sorts of flowering vines and beans that are now only 2 feet tall, but will soon grow into a flowering fort - instructions and inspirations: here, here and here!

In the back yard, I created a natural border of wild flowers, pumpkins and gourds. The pumpkin plants are growing quickly, but the wild flowers are having a tough time of it. A fellow freecycler gave me some wonderful plants: a black raspberry bush, chocolate mint, tall verbena, echinacea, pennyroyal, navelwort, chives, apricot violets and a ton of vinca to line the path that runs along the side of the house to the garden in back. (Thanks Robin)

My gardening inspiration is from Sharon Lovejoy's books, one of which I received at Satchel's blessingway 3 years ago. Click on the book covers for links...

and you'll wanting to sink your hand into some soil soon after.

Have a good weekend and happy solstice!

Interview With a Ladybug

"What are you going to buy at the market, Satch"?

"Goo-goo-gots...ga-bay-rayz...boo-bay-rayz...and bagoes"!

(apricots, strawberries, blue berries and bagels)
Have a good weekend everyone!

Love Bugs

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." - Henry Miller

The passing rain showers did a fine job of coolings things off, however it somehow managed to ignite sparks of a different sort.


Satchel and I went for an early evening stroll and got quite a show. A peep show of the insect variety on a leaf in a curbside flower bed.















(I'm not sure which species they are, but I'm guessing they are of the asian variety due to the marks on their pronotum.)

Motherhood leaves me virtually no time for art, so I've turned my attention toward photography and journaling as a creative outlet. There will be more time for art as Satch gets older. As for now, I photograph our moments: the things we do, the things we see, so that we do not misplace them in the folds of memory and so that he will have these things to reflect on for a great many years. There are things in this world that are dark and sad, one must know where to look for the antidote. I hope that my images and words knit a sparkling cloak of protective joy around my boy...a magic elixir, a remedy.

I enoy our strolls together immensely. I pack the pram with snacks, water, a sheet for impromptu picnics, a stick of chalk for leaving messages, and a camera. When we set out for a stroll, I go with an awareness and the intention to see something wondrous to record for Satch. And that is how I happen upon things like the six spotted tiger beetle and amorous ladybugs. I either stumble on the magic or it finds me, I'm not sure which. What I do know is that I'm never disappointed. Goethe once wrote, "The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone". Satch and I...our two souls walk together.

We pause to pick two wild spearment leaves, one for me to nibble on and the other for Satch to explore. I spot a patch of lavender and rub a bud between my palms to release the scent then hold it to Satchel's nose for him to smell. I point out all the animals I see. We welcome the licks of friendly dogs and cats. We watch squirrels dance across tree tops with amazing agility. We walk with patience and awareness. We soak up the colors, the scents, the sounds, the sights.

After dinner we played Satchel's favorite song, "24 Robbers" from the birthday cd that cousin Kate gave him. Satch danced wildly!

Satch is very interested in the electric fan. He points to it and says, "Ffffff", but he hasn't yet figured out how to complete the word. He learned how to sit up on his own in bed last night. He went from pulling himself up to stand without learning how to sit up on his own. (He also bypassed crawling and is trying to walk instead). He was so pleased with his new maneuver that he clapped loudly for himself and repeated his new skill over and over until he was too exhausted to continue. His noggin wet with sweat, he finally succumbed to sleep. He woke up twice during the night and sat up on his own as if to be sure he still remembered how he did it.

Satchel wouldn't nap at ALL today. Every time I took him to bed to nurse and nap, he rolled himself over and sat up, just like last night only he wouldn't give in to sleep. He's very cranky as one would imagine. I only hope that he sleeps well tonight.

For the next three days Satch will be going to the office with his Daddy as is the case when I am scheduled to work. (Satch is an A.P. baby and is always in the care of his parents) I have belly photos scheduled and other assorted obligations. I will look forward to the weekend with Satch and will return to the page once again with a smattering of words and a moment frozen with the click of a shutter.