Lazy, the Purple Fairy, Guardian of Baby Penguins

Hooper gave us the scare of our lives today. Geoff was coming in the front door with his hands full, and Hooper slipped out. I had been warned of this, so I ran out after him. Without my shoes on. I called him and called him, but he just kept going. I chased him through three yards as he cut through the neighborhood. I have mentioned that because of my previous foot surgeries, I can't run. Well, I did a pretty good imitation today, out of sheer terror.
Hooper kept running, all the way to the entrance to our subdivision, then crossed the road in front of oncoming cars. At this point, I was screamed his name at the top of my lungs.
I chased him about half a mile down Rt. 48, in my bare feet, before he cut into some woods I couldn't get into.
I went back for the car, and spent another hour combing the surrounding neighborhoods.

After coming back to the house, I sent Geoff and the girls on their way (swimming) and went downstairs to do some work to get my mind off of Hooper. Awhile later, Nellie began to bark and whine and I dashed upstairs and looked out the front window. There was Hooper on the front porch.
He was gone for three hours. But he came back. Now, we have a leash hanging at the front door, so this doesn't happen again.


Lynne commented today that I have a big, soft gooey center.
I like to think of myself as a geode. A rough outer texture, with something inside that might be valuable. But I appreciate the comment, nonetheless.
***
Will-Yums for today:
Lorelei has bestowed on herself a new name and profession:
"Lazy, the Purple Fairy, Guardian of Baby Penguins". No idea where the "lazy" part came from, but it's cute anyway, huh? Also, Isabelle and I were out back, and she said that she was going to run all the way around the yard. She said, "I am going to start at the prairie, then go past the caterpillar garden, then past the host plant...." and on and on she went.
Host plant...she meant the yarrow growing through the fence. Now, I ask ya, what five-year old says, "Host plant"?

You bunch of smart-asses.

I don't know whether to put words over here,

Or here,

or over here.

I guess I will try putting the pictures in the middle, and the text right-justified? Does that make everyone happy?

We found an Imperial Moth in the backyard this morning:

It was looking pretty rough...It had quite a bit of wing gone.

But how beautiful is that yellow and pink fuzz? Like a little cat with wings.

And a face that everyone should love.

The dope on Imperial Moths:

Family: Wild Silk Moths (Saturniidae) (Same family as Luna moths!)

Subfamily: Royal Moths (Citheroniinae)

Identification: Females are larger than males. Upperside is yellow with pinkish brown to purple-brown patches, bands, and cell spots, and tiny brown spots scattered overall. Males have larger patches on the forewings than females, except for some subspecies pini males which have reduced purple and are mostly yellow.

Life history: Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. Females lay eggs at dusk singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, and the caterpillars are solitary feeders. Pupation takes place in underground burrows.

Flight: One brood; in the north from June-August, in the south from April-October.

Wing span: 3 1/8 - 6 7/8 inches (8 - 17.4 cm).

Caterpillar hosts: Conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs including pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), box elder (Acer negundo), maples (Acer), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Subspecies pini feeds only on conifers.

Adult food: Adults do not feed. (WOW! They don't EAT?)

Habitat: Deciduous and evergreen forests.

Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

**********

This explains why I found it under one of our maple trees. Maybe it just laid eggs.
I have finally figured out why I feel so drawn to butterflies and moths. Same as why I am drawn to birds: They are beautiful and they can fly.

Sad news:
Lollipop, our blue parakeet, was dead at the bottom of his cage yesterday. When I removed him from the fishtank the other day, I checked him out and he didn't have any wounds, and seemed fine. But I guess the stress of being knocked out of his cage was too much for him. Echo is lonely, so we are giving him extra attention.
Hopeful news:
I am going over to visit my bestest bud, Shannon, tomorrow. She moved into an apartment today and I want to go over and give the place my approval. She is getting divorced, and it sucks. But she has her family and friends, and of course the most kick-ass best friend anyone could ask for. That would be me, by the way.
And I am hoping to bring a little something back with me. I will post about it tomorrow.
Today's Will-Yum:
Lorelei's pre-start-of-school physical was today. We saw the new nurse-practitioner and even though she had a great way with kids, Lorelei was so in her A-game. She chatted, answered all the questions posed to her, agreed to all the poking and prodding, smiling no less. I just had to sit there and translate a few words for the CNP. Like when Lorelei said the name of her new goldfish, which has been expanded to :Lipstick Flower Zip-It.
Not to toot my own horn, but...BEEP BEEP. We have done something right with these kids. They are smart, funny, outgoing, interesting.
YUM!

Schadenfreude and Will-Yums

My Harry Potter programs are finally over, tonight's being the last. I have 4 days off.
May I say, "Whew!" and "Jeez!" ?

My brush with schadenfreude today:
On the highway, I saw a very ugly, old, maroon Trans-Am barreling in and out of different lanes, causing lots of cars to slam on their brakes and swerve to avoid being hit. No turn signals (one of my pet peeves), total disregard for anyone's safety. Myself and other drivers were looking at each other, making faces at each other, like "Can you believe those idiots?"
This went on for a few miles, then we all saw something that made us laugh:
The Trans-Am was stalled in the left lane, with a very long line of pissed of drivers behind them. And all of us were pointing and laughing. It was fabulous.
***
I have thought of a new post-theme for my blog...things that are great, that make me smile, but don't really fit into my posts (you know how random they can be).
The name: The Will-Yums.
Anything that makes me grin or that gives me a tiny thrill, or something I want to brag about, or something that makes me go "yum!".

My first Will-Yum:
Yesterday, I was leaving early for RAPTOR, when Isabelle called out the door, "Wait, Mommy!" I stopped and waited...she came out with a freshly washed apple, and said, "Here's an apple, Mommy, because you always forget to eat breakfast."