The Praying Mantis Moment

I know, weird photos to put on a jewelry blog. But when I started this blog, I thought I would post little things & anecdotes that make me happy or smile, from time to time ... since I'm a person who's 'all about the happy'. I am also a person who has a lot of these in her daily life. I have conversations with myself, stop and try to notice "ah ha" moments as they are happening, say out loud "look at how beautiful the orange is in those leaves" for the 100th time that fall - just because the natural color is so vibrantly unbelievable, it's almost an injustice for something not to be said out loud when seen. I'm the mom who randomly says, "boys, aren't we having a nice day today?" for no special reason at all, and I'm the mom who keeps reminding herself over and over to stop and appreciate the quirky and everyday things about my kids, because I know one day I'll think it flew by even though it seems like we're never going to get anywhere. Now make no mistake - I'm no brainiac in any way, nor do I have any great insights. I'm just a dreamy-enough person to think these things to myself and I'm idealistic enough for it to be part of my everyday, but have just a touch of practicality to make me realize the importance of it all. (don't tell my husband I used "practicality" to describe anything about me - he'll laugh us out of town!) 

And so, although I haven't really taken the time I thought I would to share some of these things ... I had a few extra minutes today, following one of these special little everyday moments. I have a million things I SHOULD be doing and a million things I'll WISH I did with this time later, but for now I'm going to share my photos of the praying mantis we found at our house this afternoon. 

First of all, they're amazing. We've all seen them in books, but not all of us get to see one up close. We live in Ohio. I wasn't even sure if these things were in Ohio when I found it.  I thought it might be some kind of giant grasshopper I didn't know about. It was climbing up the frame of our back door, as I was coming inside from checking on the kids. When I screamed because it was blocking my way to go back through the door, the boys (7 & 4yrs old) came running from the play set and our outdoor learning adventure began. We shared our silly insights and guesses all about the creature and watched it's funny, small movements, squatted down together in the late-fall sun. Marveled at its big eyes and the interesting shape of its body. My husband (mowing out back) finally noticed something was up, and came over and enlightened us and then relocated the praying mantis to our lilac bushes at the end of our back patio. My 1st grader wanted a photo of his "new friend" and I wanted a photo because it's just one of those cool things. See how it so effortlessly just clings to the sticks, with such little contact? Look at how well camouflaged he is, built-in protection from predators as only God could design. Who knows how long he's been around, we would've never seen him if he weren't "out of his element" on the door ... I might've even touched him when reaching under the bush a time or two, to retrieve a ball for the boys! Who knows?! 

Anyway, it's completely amazing how unique and individual things are. He's a whole little guy here, with great detail in his head, body and legs, although at just a glance he looks like something completely different. It's neat how individual everything and everyone is. Sometimes I wonder "what people want" when I'm making my jewelry, or it's a slow jewelry sale time. If I could just find out exactly what people liked. -But you know, it's pretty great to be an individual who can create things envisioned in her mind, and it's pretty great to discover what people like and what delights them. It's always a surprise. Sometimes I surprise myself with my creation; sometimes I'm surprised at which design someone picks. No matter what, it's all good ... and surprising!

Thanks for tuning in for my little piece of "happy" for today and enjoy the photos!  :)