The Seventeen Year Cicada and how a bug can make me yearn for my childhood.

It is loud outside. Like, louder than I would expect a plague of horny cicadas to be. Loud like an army of maracas rattling in the trees. There are so many cicadas it's almost biblical. I have always been completely fascinated by these noisy creatures, here's why.

1. They have the coolest larval stage ever (i have no idea if that is the correct term to use for a cicada before it becomes a winged creature...nymph stage, maybe?). They live in the ground for 17 years and when they emerge they look like little clawed tanks. They remind me of the bugs from the movie Starship Troopers.  Enjoy this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAJLWSg5PIY

2. Our dog, Mudd, looks hilarious when he chases them. My first dog, Ryder (*pours a 40 on the curb* I miss you!), loved to eat them. It was also hilarious. The sound of a toothless cocker spaniel gumming crunchy bugs is a sound not to be missed.  Side note: cicadas are not poisonous, a dog can totally eat them...just not too many coz their exoskeletons are hard to digest.

3.  My first cicada experience was at the Brookfield zoo.  It was hot when the plague peaked and the zoo was a madhouse.  Cicadas everywhere, screaming/freaked out kids running in circles/stomping bugs, stressed out parents and camp counselors everywhere.  A madhouse.  I didn't even care about the gorilla house or the lions.  I just wanted to count cicadas.  It was the first time I felt awestruck by something.

4.  Those red eyes?  So excellent.  And some of the other kinds have cool camouflaged backs.  Damn, do these things look cool.

5.  The shells are interesting and I always regret not collecting them for something art related.  sigh.

6.  When I was little the kids on the block would play a cicada related game.  If you saw one that looked dead you would dare your friend to pick it up.  If it was dead the game was over and if it wasn't dead the sudden BUUUUZZZZZZZZ was enough to make a kid shit their pants.  It was a fun game.  Kind of like kiddie-russian roulette.

omg.  how embarrassing.  you can still see the arrow from my screenshot.  too lazy to crop today.  sorry!

the 17 year cicadas are small.  whirlybird tree seed for scale.

A cicada that recently emerged from it's shell.  man, they are completely fascinating.

I've always enjoyed these creatures.  Yesterday I spent five minutes staring at a tree just so I could watch the swarm buzz and fly through the branches....there were so many of them.  The sound was deafening and the visuals were awesome.  

Hognose Snake!

You'd think a dog called a Rat Terrier would be more inclined to hunt rats.  Not our dog.  Mudd is a Snake Terrier and a few weeks ago he came across a very interesting snake, indeed.

It all started on the river.  We pulled the boat over so I could get out and stretch my legs.  Of course the dog jumped out of the boat, onto the shoreline, and disappeared into the trees with a quickness that can't be registered on a wristwatch.

I ran after the pooch and found him yelping and pawing at a log.  I walked over to grab him and saw a HUGE snake.  The snake saw me and began to puff up in an attempt to look larger.  It was quite a display...hissing followed the puffing and I knew that it would be a dumb idea to get any closer.

I went to the other side of the log to get a look from another angle.  The snake's head periscoped over the log and he made intense eye contact with me, like he wanted to eat me.  Of course, I ran away (dog in my arms) like a scared little baby.

I went home, did some research, and found out that it was a hognose snake.  They're known for their impressive displays but not for being aggressive.  Who knew?

A Rat Terrier Family Portrait.

Mudd and his sister, Bear.

Terrible Taxidermy Tuesday

I think the acorn is nailed to his decrepit paw.

'merica!

I found these beauties in Ottumwa, Iowa.  God bless amateur taxidermists.  Without them life would be less beautiful and hilarious.  I hope that the spirits of these animals can see the humor in this.

Fossils in Iowa: Mahaska County.

The dry weather has hindered my adventures.  It's a sad thing, really.  When rain water doesn't flow through creek beds weeds quickly take over the crevices.  Poor Jane is left standing in sad, weedy mud puddles wondering what happened to all of her wonderful fossils.  I'm a tough cookie, though.  When I decide I'm going to find something I'll do it and I managed to find a few fossils on the Des Moines River this Saturday.  There's a few shell fossils and a pretty nice chunk of coral (i can't take credit for finding that one, my partner in crime did).

It's always neat to find something that is millions of years old.

Artifacts, Iowa. Bird Point.

1.  KP, Mudd, and I went on an artifact hunt ton Saturday. Check out what Kyle found, a perfect birdpoint.    It was hidden in tall weeds and he still managed to sniff it out.

2.  My buddy and her family just got back from an amazing California themed vacation.  They brought me back these wonderful smashed pennies.  This is my first smashed penny that proudly features a bottle of booze!  I'm pretty excited about that.

3. Mudd got a bite of the garden carrots.  Look at that face...awwwwwww.

President Obama Speaks in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

It all started on Friday.  A little bird told me that President Obama was going to do a few Grassroots events around Iowa.  I needed more information about the rumors and hopped on ol' faithful (Google) to do some cyber sleuthing.  I didn't believe it at first, was President Obama really going to speak in Oskaloosa, Iowa?  It was indeed true.  I did more sleuthing to find out how I could attend the event.  That Saturday I waited for 2.5 hours in the hot, hot, Oskaloosa heat to get my ticket, it was the only way I could be guaranteed entrance.  While in line, I was interviewed by a local news program, I'm at the beginning and at the very end.  To view the interview click on this grey text and be dazzled.

Now here I sit, post speech giddiness is still thick on my breath.  Our president is an amazing orator and I'm proud that he came to this li'l town to talk to the people of Oskaloosa.  Not only did he crack a few jokes but he crammed a lot of important information in his 30 minutes speech.  He spoke of the struggling middle class, higher education, clean energy, taxes, the deficit, job creation, the American dream, family, and the importance of really understanding what each candidate stands for and how their agenda will affect each of us as individuals and as a whole.  I'm an Obama supporter and I feel like I saw something important. 

Vintage Coke Bottles and a Strange Owl.

Someone enlighten me.  I have no idea what this is.  It's an antique but that's as far as I've gotten.

The coke bottle was made in 1923.  The Pepsi bottles are pretty old as well.

A broken Native American Artifact and three fossils.

This summer has been horrendously hot.  The earth is dry and the water in the river is incredibly low.  There are some perks to having the water low, things that have been hidden under the water for years and years are finally exposed.  It's a good time to be a pirate and walk the river bank looking for treasure.

And treasure is what I found. We did some cyber sleuthing and found out that the Coke Bottle is ridiculously old.  The internet says it's from around 1923 (-1931) and I always believe the internet...

Along with the vintage bottles (and fossils and arrowheads remnants), I found this really strange owl.  I have no idea what it's origins are but I'm assuming it came from a bed post.  It was pretty cool to pull it out of the water, it's quite the find.

A Painting in Progress.

"Snake Nest" 13X13, windsor and newton gouache, 2012.

I'm trying to work in a smaller format and it's extremely challenging.  I've painted in a 22 X 30 format (or around that size) for the last 5 years of my life.  This is a tough, tough, tough transition but it's always good to challenge oneself.  I'm thinking about making 12 of these smaller paintings and presenting them in a modified grid on the wall.  Sooooo, painting in progress, guys, not too shabby.

I own a bird dog.

No birds were harmed in the making of this photo.

While I was taking pictures of flowers, Mudd managed to slip away from me.  When I found him he was sniffing a fuzzy-something and refused to come to me when I called.  I walked closer to the dog and saw what he was snuffling.  It was a baby robin.  The bird looked hot, it's been 100 + in Iowa with no end in sight.  I picked robin up, took him out of the sun, and placed him under a shady evergreen shrub.  I assume the bird is alive and doing well.

Some Grey Tree Frogs.

Tree frogs.  You hear them but rarely see them.  I got lucky the other day and came across two. 

New Painting!

"Chupacabra, MahaskaCounty"  22X30. Windsor and Newton Gouache. 2012

Here's another painting that I've been working on.  I'm pleased with this piece as well.  It's based on my legendary chupacabra sighting from last year.

A New Painting.

 13 X 24. Windsor and Newton Gouache. 2012.

detail

detail

Well, Well.  What do we have here?  I finally hunkered down, strapped myself into my studio chair, taped a paint brush to my hand, and finished up the final details of my most recent work  I'm happy with the piece (even though I have yet to come up with a title) and am ready and excited to begin working on a new painting for my most recent body of work.  Thanks for looking.

grackle nest.

Isn't this the most perfect nest you've ever seen? I'm pretty sure these guys are baby grackles.  Don't worry though, no babies were harmed in the making of this photograph. I found them by accident and my entire encounter lasted approximately 20 seconds.  The baby birds look so cute and fuzzy, I want one!  I'll bet they have bird lice.

sidenote:  adult grackles are one of the most annoying birds I've encountered in Iowa.  For several weeks straight (I assume while they were tending to this nest) two grackles would follow me around the garden, hopping from tree branch to tree branch, and yell at me.  I shit you not, the birds would yell at me.  I would look up into the trees and try and intimidate the birds away from me...nope.  The birds would stand on their branch, hold their ground, turn their heads sideways, and glare at me with their strange, yellow eyes.  Then they would yell at me some more.  They're beautiful, that's for sure.  But, oh man, they are very confrontational creatures.

Artifacts, Iowa.

A bird point I was lucky enough to find.

A Madison Triangle, 2 broken Madison triangles, and a nice broken piece of pottery.

A thumb scraper and a broken spear.

I was sick with a 101 degree fever this weekend.  Yup, I was pretty much worthless.  I basically sat on my porch and looked at flowers and birds for hours at a time with a thermometer stuck in my mouth.  You can be sick inside or sick outside.  I chose to be sick outside.  Good times.

Because of my 24 hour flu, I wasn't able to get much done so the blog today is a catch up entry.  I found these artifacts about a month ago and failed to post them in a timely fashion.  I think they're all pretty great and I'm especially proud of my pink bird point arrowhead.  I found all of these pieces in fields that were tilled.

I hope you guys had a good weekend.

Whitetail Deer Antler Shed, Lovila Iowa

I was walking though a field the other day and found this little, chewed up beauty.  It was partially buried in the dirt and a lot of it has been chewed up by rodents.  Although this little antler is in rough shape I'm still happy to have found the thing.  Every day is a treasure hunt, friends.

Memorial Day American Toad.

can you see the worm he's about to eat?

An obnoxious and prickly bush was recently cut down and abolished from the garden.  Along with the piles of dirt (from the uprooting) came piles of worms.  Along with the piles of worms came an American toad.  He came to fill his belly with worm meat...yum.  I was able to watch this guy attack and gulp down two earthworms.  I tried to coax him into eating a third (as you can see in the top photo) but he wasn't having any of that.  Too many human smells.

Their camouflage is pretty impressive, wouldn't you agree? 

Train Track Nickel and Dime Smashing.

Want some wholesome/dangerous fun.  Here's the rules.

1. Find a rural train track. If you are in the city/suburbs and the track has a third rail....back off.    Electrocution is imminent.
2. Look both ways to make sure a Union Pacific isn't going to hit you in the face.
3. Place your change on the rail and make note of where you put the stuff.  The change will move a bit when the train smashes them.
4. Return in the morning.  You'll have a bunch of wonderful trinkets.  Also, your money is now useless.  

Yup.  I've been a busy girl.  Today I'm thinking about smashing a quarter, a Susan b. Anthony, a gold dollar with stupid Andrew Jackson on it, and maybe a fork.  Happy smashing, folks. 

A beautiful garden.

 I'm finding a lot of peace in my garden.  All of the colors fill me with an automatic calm.  I suppose you could compare my garden to a Valium....or a fish tank.  Whatever you choose to compare it to, I'm sure that all this gardening is lowering my blood pressure. 

 Here are some of the peppers that were planted.  Three different kinds!  We'll see if they even grow with all of our rabbit activity.  The jerk store garden rabbits don't even eat the peppers, they just bite off the tiny bud and drop it on the ground.  I swear they are just doing this to make me mad.  Oh, well.  I have to remember that they are just rabbits and are not capable of doing something "just to piss me off."

Bumble bees and bad luck.

not the greatest photo but i took it.  all will be explained.

Alright, so it was raining pretty bad the other day.  I enjoy watching the rain so I opened up the screen door and proceeded to admire the weather. Before I could even ogle,  three bumblebees tried to find refuge in my kitchen.  I wasn't about to let that happen and slammed the screen door as fast as I could.  The bees were wet and could hardly fly. One found shelter on the lighting fixture above my head (on the other side of the screen door, of course and in the photo).  Once the rain stopped the bees left.  Remarkable creatures, really.

Ever since I refused entry to those three bees my pod has been having terrible trouble with the creatures.  The day after it rained K was stung on the hand.  The next day Mudd came shooting up the stairs and jumped straight onto my lap.  He had a stinger in his lip.  The dumb fucker tried to eat one.

And the icing on the cake?  Last night I was walking around, checking out the garden and I felt a prick and a BURN on the bottom of my naked foot.  Damn, those stings burn and ache and hurt.  I'm swollen and have to spend the rest of the week walking around on a bee sting on the arch of my foot.  Boo.  Oh, yeah.  My other foot has glass stuck in it.

One foot full of glass, one foot full of venom.  Shoot, that might be a good title for a book.