A Photo Op with a Mantis

I. HATE. BUGS.

All bugs. ANY bugs. I hate them! People always think I am exaggerating and say things like, "You like ladybugs/butterflies/etc. don't you?!" Nope. The ONLY bugs I can ALMOST tolerate are bees, and I am so allergic to them i have to avoid them like the plague. I really, really HATE bugs.

This evening, I found TWO bugs on my bed. TWO. At different times. In my book on how to avoid bugs, one is a fluke...two is a trend, So, all night I have been paranoid. I keep thinking I am feeling little legs crawling on my skin. EW! Well, at one point I was SURE I felt one! I flipped it off, and turned to see if it was on my bed (it was on my back)...but nothing. As I was looking away, I saw two HUGE eyes...LONG legs...the SUPER bug. To my utter joy, it was on the OTHER side of my window.

What was it? A katydid (I think..I don't like to learn about bugs...the pictures freak me out! When Taiger was little, I tried to teach him about butterflies...the pictures were too much. That homeschool topic ended abruptly). Anyway, I saw this as a GREAT photo opportunity and grabbed Scott and snapped away. The creature held very, very still. Until I moved away to adjust my settings. Then, he cocked his head and seemed to be wondering where I had gone. I came back and snapped some more. I knew this would be the closest I would ever be to one of these bugs. If it weren't on the other side of thick glass, I would have been HYSTERICAL. First, I would have been surprised, probably even jumped. Then, I would have become VERY mad...even IRATE! How dare this disgusting thing intrude MY space! Then, I would have freaked! This thing is in MY ROOM! I would have wakened the WHOLE house and made someone dispose of the helpless creature. Lucky for him, and everyone, he was outside and there was nothing to be upset about.

Well, i LOVED taking pictures of this little guy. Very interesting. Very cool colors. Close enough to get some cool shots. And then, he moved. He had moved little bits already, and that was cool...good for pictures. He bit at his hand, and rubbed his head. Turned his head. Those kinds of things. Now, he began to walk. I clicked away. He moved his legs up onto the window. I almost threw up but I wanted to get some good pictures of his belly to show Taiger tomorrow. It was all pinkish and reddish...very cool to a three year old boy, I assumed. But after a moment, I realized he was staying like that...pawing at my window, trying to get in to the warmth of my lamp.

And that's when everything changed. That is when he grossed me out. No longer cool. Just disgusting and a bug. Yuck. Even as I type this, he is clamoring at the window, trying so hard to get warm. Trying to get through that invisible and mysterious barrier to the heat radiating from so close, but so far away. He knows it is there, he may even be able to feel it slightly through the glass. But there is more. Oh yes, there is heat indescribable. He knows it. But he can't get to it.

Seeing him now makes me want to vomit. Yuck.

I just hate bugs.


(Tried to upload pictures but internet is too slow. Just take my word for it...the little creature was revolting!)