LADYBUG

Blogging content should not be predictable - don't you agree?

I was out doing 'required homeowner stuff' today -- raking millions of leaves in my yard - blowing them into piles - gathering them onto canvas - dragging them to the street - rinse and repeat 100 times - picking up rotten pumpkins that had served as decorations - cleaning out gutters - etc.

And in the midst of it all, I heard one lone hawk sitting in a tree overhead squawking at me (or at something) - then a squirrel bounded up into the hanging plant outside our front door, ostensibly to gnaw on a mini-pumpkin nestled there - and there was a brand new mega-hole made by a chipmunk I hadn't noticed before - all signs of life still in November -- and that's when it hit me.

I did not remember the fall plague of ladybugs this year. Usually they inundate the sides of my home and somehow manage to make their way INDOORS, where I am scooping them off walls and windows every day for weeks. I mean, I saw a few not long ago, but not nearly the epidemic I've been used to ... unless I was in China and the Philippines or Palm Springs when they invaded this year and I completely missed it. I suppose that's possible.

But interestingly enough, I kind of missed the little guys -- er, girls -- um, ladies -- creeping around the house this year.

So, in honor of the LADYBUGS I was thinking about today, here goes:

There are nearly 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide and 400 varieties live here in North America.

A female ladybug will lay more than 1,000 eggs in her lifetime.

A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.

A gallon jar will hold from 72,000 to 80,000 ladybugs.

Ladybugs make a chemical that smells and tastes terrible so that birds and other predators won't eat them.

If you squeeze a ladybug it will bite you, but the bite won't hurt.

The spots on a ladybug fade as the ladybug gets older.

Ladybugs won't fly if the temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

The male ladybug is usually smaller than the female.

So -- there you have it. I don't know how that is going to find its way into a future sermon, but keep your ears open, OK? See you next year, Mr. & Mrs. Ladybug.

And be blessed.