Day of the grasshoppers

Walking out in the preserve today I noticed all these grasshoppers clinging to grass stalks and the blades on the saw palmetto plants. They sat still very nicely for pictures. I suspect they couldn't move even if they wanted to, it was so cold out there this morning and they were covered with dew. I got to thinking about why they'd hang out like that overnight and thought maybe it had to do with where the sun hits first in the morning. Maybe the sun warms them up more quickly when they're out in the open like that, but then the obvious drawback is you're like breakfast on a stick for the birds.

Opposites attract

I took these on the same morning. I got there early enough to see the moon and stayed late enough to greet the sun. That's pretty magical. The beginning of the walk is spooky and quiet but by the end of it the trees look like they're on fire and all the birds are yakking away. Who knows what they're going on about? 

Transitions

This is how it is walking in the mornings. It's dark at the beginning, and then by the time you come around to where you started, the sun is up and you have a new perspective. You've talked yourself right out of whatever you thought was impossible when you woke up. Of course, it works the other way, too.

Running to keep up

This is progress. At least she's running along with me in this picture and not stopped somewhere behind me, sniffing at deer tracks or looking to see who's catching up. I'm running again, if you can call it that. I imagine that it looks more like shuffling in a semi-upright position. I imagine that if you saw me you'd think, "That poor woman looks like she's in a lot of pain. Why doesn't she stop?" I can't stop. I read an article in my local paper about someone who started running when she was in her sixties and was now a champion at age 93. My husband says she's probably just the only one left alive in her age group. So that just means I have to outlast everyone else to win. I can do that.