Bugs are mean.

They just are. I do nothing to provoke them, yet they find reason to bite me. One in particular had to bite me twice, waking me from a well needed rest. I took pleasure in smooshing him.

this is not an ant. i don't have a picture of ants.

The days have been lovely and full of sunshine and a few showers, enough so that I don't have to water the gardens -- yay! I've picked up the pen again, well, actually keys, and am almost ready to launch a blog for all my tidbits of stories that are more working vacations from my larger pieces. It will be a private blog -- so if you would like to read my unedited musings, leave your email address in a comment below {will not be published} and I'll send you an invite as soon as I get things running.

Also, if you thought Mr Turtle was cute I'd like you all to meet Pip. The quarter-sized painted turtle baby.

My little brother has taken him in and Pip now happily resides in an aquarium -- when he's not crawling around the living room.

I've never come across as small a turtle as he before, in all my younger days as an explorer. He's a fun little companion. When typing up a story on my laptop, he likes to watch the letters appear and warms himself to sleep on my speakers.

He also likes to climb curtains. And people. No obstacle is too big for this determined little critter. He hunts gnats like a crocodile. He's hilarious.

Have any of you come across an interesting critter or two this summer? Or been bitten by bugs, for that matter?

-Gwyn