Hitchin' a Ride

"A thumb goes up, a car goes by
Won't somebody stop and help a guy
Hitchin' a ride, hitchin' a ride
Been away too long from my baby's side"
-Vanity Fair, 1969

First of all, before anyone gets creeped out, this spider is so tiny that I was not even able to see the aphid on its back with the bare eye.  And that brings up the second point which is that the aphid is really just "hitchin' a ride".  Honestly, when I saw this on the screen, I thought it might be one of the very tiny parasitic wasps, but an entomologist who specializes in wasps set me straight.  So, it's all very benign.  I've actually been keep tabs on this tiny little Northern Crab Spider for several days - he/se is living on one of the rudbeckia flowers which is a perfect habitat for a spider that catches rather than traps prey.  

In other big garden news, Miss Thing deposited her first ootheca!  (Which is a frothy egg case if you're wondering).  I happened to check on her just as she was starting so I got to keep tabs on the whole thing, which took about an hour.  She still looks fecund (see, I used it again!) so I think she may have another ootheca coming.  I will put an image in Extra which just shows the end of the mantid with the beginnings of the frothy egg case, and one that shows the entire mantis.  I'm totally rocking my geeky side today!

It's currently 82F outside, unseasonably warm for October, with bright sunshine.  It's actually a little on the warm side to spend a lot of time outside so I've been doing short sorties.  Tomorrow is also going to be warm although only in the mid 70's.  After that, we'll move into more typical  temperatures.

I ordered some fingerless compression gloves last night from Amazon after reading a bunch of stuff suggesting that they might help with the hand/wrist pain I'm having.  This rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis is proving to be quite the journey.  I've not yet identified anything specific that makes the pain better or worse.  Nor do I think I've been on the meds long enough to know if they are working or not.  Frustrating all around since I like having more certainty about things.  Oh well, patience...

I had some 72% dark today which was the perfect balance of sweet and bitter.  

xo
Debbi