September’s Nature Study for Lovers

<p><em>What’s black all over with an orange scarf around it’s neck, </em><em>and so &quot;in love&quot; (literally) with life that it loves on you every time you walk out the door?</em></p>

<p>The Answer?<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=615,height=426,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/lovebugslarge_1.jpg”><img title=”Lovebugslarge_1″ height=”103″ alt=”Lovebugslarge_1″ src=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/cays_cajun_cottage/images/lovebugslarge_1.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a> <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=615,height=426,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/lovebugslarge.jpg”></a></p>

<p>DQ’s new pet, of course. </p>

<p>These were the <a href=”http://www.attention-to-details.com/newslog/38m-when-lovebugs-attack.asp”>only good pics</a> I could find of the <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_bug”>insect</a> that outnumbers the dreaded Louisiana mosquito.&nbsp; At least <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_bug”>lovebugs</a> don’t bite or sting but we really wish they didn’t &quot;love&quot; on us so much.</p>

<p>So DQ discovers a bachelor lovebug winging the blue skies by himself this morning and declares him as her &quot;new pet.&quot;&nbsp; I see her at the kitchen counter with a small dollhouse stove, a mini-teacut fit for a doll, and the bowl of sugar.</p>

<p>&quot;What are you doing, hun?&quot; I ask.</p>

<p>&quot;I’m making sugar water for my pet.&quot;&nbsp; Her brow is furrowed as she carefully measures and sprinkles the grains of sugar into the lukewarm water.&nbsp; &quot;You told me once that they like anything sweet.&quot;</p>

<p>Oh, yes, I remember.&nbsp; Ask me how I know this important bit of information.&nbsp; Go ahead.&nbsp; Ask me.</p>

<p>Ever went on vacation in a camper with young children, popsickles in the freezer, and lots of sticky, syrupy fingers grabbing at the camper doorknob?&nbsp; Those sugar-sweet lovebugs will leave you alone for sure as they flock to the refreshment stand around the entrance of your camper.&nbsp; </p>

<p>The picture on the right is known as a lovebug attack but, honestly, they aren’t attacking <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=512,height=384,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/lovebugsattack.jpg”><img title=”Lovebugsattack” height=”112″ alt=”Lovebugsattack” src=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/cays_cajun_cottage/images/lovebugsattack.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a>anything or anybody.&nbsp; They are such loving creatures.&nbsp; They LOVE white, they LOVE people, they LOVE sticky sweet camper doors, they LOVE each other, they LOVE to LOVE.&nbsp; </p>

<p>And they are an invaluable teaching tool concerning sxx education.</p>

<p>Eight-yr-old:&nbsp; &quot;Mommy, why do lovebugs always fly around in twos like that?&quot;</p>

<p>Thirteen-yr-old:&nbsp; &quot;Cause they’re in love.&quot;</p>

<p>Mommy:&nbsp; &quot;Well, one’s a daddy and one’s a mommy.&nbsp; They’re making a baby.&nbsp; You need a male and female to make a baby.&quot;</p>

<p>For some reason this explanation has never been questioned further and it plants the natural &quot;seed&quot; of understanding without crossing that barbed boundary.&nbsp; Since most people don’t live on farms anymore, it’s the closest thing we’ve got to barnyard education in the suburbs.</p>

<p><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/bedroom_pics_014.jpg”><img title=”Bedroom_pics_014″ height=”112″ alt=”Bedroom_pics_014″ src=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/cays_cajun_cottage/images/bedroom_pics_014.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a>We also have quite a bit of <a href=”http://cicadamania.com/cicadas/”>cicada</a> shells around our house:&nbsp; on the playhouse, on the trees, on the brick walls, and on the picnic table.</p>

<p>Click on the photo and you can see the three-in-a-row <a href=”http://cicadamania.com/cicadas/”>cicada</a> shells on the underside of our picnic table.&nbsp; I spotted them while sitting in a lawn chair during a fish fry at our house on Labor Day.&nbsp; </p>

Artistic Crosses

<p><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=611,height=825,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/stainedglass_1.jpg”><img title=”Stainedglass_1″ height=”135″ alt=”Stainedglass_1″ src=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/cays_cajun_cottage/images/stainedglass_1.jpg” width=”100″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a>The Frank Thompson family of Louisiana are friends of ours and fellow homeschoolers.&nbsp; They are a devout Catholic family who brings <a href=”http://www.artisticcrosses.com/”>artistic crosses</a> to a higher level of glory to God.</p>

<p>You can read their story <a href=”http://www.artisticcrosses.com/files/Cross_S.pdf”>here</a> and see their beautiful handmade stained-glass <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=621,height=835,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/stainglass.jpg”><img title=”Stainglass” height=”134″ alt=”Stainglass” src=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/cays_cajun_cottage/images/stainglass.jpg” width=”100″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a> crosses <a href=”http://www.artisticcrosses.com/”>here</a>.</p>

<p>Frank and Eva don’t know that I’m plugging their little business (which they consider a ministry for the glory of God) but I could not (especially with the Christmas holidays approaching) let the chance slip by to help reveal these <a href=”http://www.artisticcrosses.com/”>artisitic crosses</a> to those who pass by this site looking for a little loveliness, a little comfort, and a little blessing in their lives.&nbsp; </p>

<p><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=607,height=819,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/glass_1.jpg”><img title=”Glass_1″ height=”134″ alt=”Glass_1″ src=”http://caygibson.typepad.com/cays_cajun_cottage/images/glass_1.jpg” width=”100″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a>With your Christmas shopping on the imminent horizon, why not let a little light shine on your family and friends.&nbsp; I can vouch for the Thompson family’s faith, their family, their love of God and country and for Frank’s work ethic and the quality of his work.&nbsp; Frank has done, and continues to do, stained-glass art on windows in churches throughout the area.&nbsp; He also teaches a leisure learning stained glass art at the local college campus.&nbsp; </p>

<p>He now uses his God-given talent to let God’s light shine to a whole post 9-11 / post-Katrina/Rita world.&nbsp; These beautiful artistic crosses give new meaning to &quot;let your light shine.&quot;</p>

<p>Tell them that Cay sent you.&nbsp; </p>