That really sums up me and my life. Just in our living room we have 45 feet of book shelves. But that’s how I like it. And yes, I have read most of them. And as a result of some of them, I can identify some of the insects that I find.
On to the underground art challenge.
The photo above is an antlion. These wonderful, and somewhat delicate creatures are common at our cabin, as well as almost everywhere we go for hikes. Most people do not recognize their larvae or the larval homes – antlion pits. Watch for depressions in the sand about 50-75 mm across. Below the center bottom of the depression, at the bottom of the pit there will be a young antlion. These larvae are voracious predators of other insects that travel across the sand and slide down the sides of their pits, especially ants – thus their name.
Above left is a cross section of an antlion trap, with the predator waiting in the bottom. The right shows the entire larva.
That’s about all I could come up with for “underground.” So on to other things.
The SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-2) is still dominating the news. The latest from the FDA is that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use with children ages 5-11. Last week the CDC OK’d the “mix and match” approach to vaccine boosters. This means that whatever vaccine you got originally you can get any of the three currently available in the US as your booster.
The sad issue in Michigan is once you get away from the Liberal parts of the state the virus is growing in number of cases. People are refusing to get vaccinated (as in the cartoon, “trampling on our rights) or wear masks.
Recently in the northern Lower Peninsula we stopped at a rest area and despite the sign on each door, were the only people wearing masks (well under 20% masked). This morning at Kroger, which probably gets the largest cross-section of Ann Arbor, only 75% of the people wore masks. Unless we all work together (or die) this pandemic will never end.
Tomorrow the art challenge is “slimy.”
Until then…
Michael's Place 