The 'pillars are still trucking along. It always takes me so long to find them that I start to worry that something has happened to them. The shrub isn't that large, about my height, but they're incredibly well-camouflaged. I'd name them, since I like to weigh things down with silly human constructs, but I'm not sure that I can tell them apart. I would like to see the caterpillars walking about, though, because whenever I watch them, they're just hanging around by a few pairs of legs, usually head down. I did see one of them munching on a leaf once, but they've not otherwise been active at all. The silkworms I've met in the past were always running around, and they ate constantly. Perhaps the lethargy of the hornworms is due to their much larger size. I wonder for how long they pupate (i.e. how long I must wait before I pull up the shrub, once they've gone underground).

And despite the suspicions of threetimes, I am not obsessed with caterpillars now. I do continue to find these guys interesting, and I'm enjoying the opportunity to observe them in a natural setting. What better laboratory than my backyard?

We visited Geo's parents on Saturday. They don't mess around; apparently his dad asked him about the nature of our relationship with Dennis within the first fifteen minutes. This is in stark contrast with my family, who, in the decade that I lived with Dennis and B, never asked once. I've generally done well with OPP (Other People's Parents); it has something to do with the schoolgirl-cum-Kindergarten teacher thing, no doubt. Geo's father seems to have survived the shocking (but in reality quite mundane) revelation, anyway.

I just found in my backyard the largest caterpillar that I've ever seen. Some weird berry-like shrub had volunteered in one of my beds next to the azaleas and impatiens. I just let it be, interested to see what it might become. But it didn't seem to become anything of note except an eyesore. Today, I'd had enough and proceeded to try unseat the now largish plant in order to add it to our green waste bin which is picked up on Tuesdays. The attempt was aborted when I noticed the caterpillar. Originally, I thought it was some sort of seed pod, but when I noticed that there were no others on the rest of the plant, I became suspicious and looked more closely. About four inches long, fatter than my thumb, smooth-skinned and horny, the green larva held on to a branch of the shrub with many pairs of little feet in a rather unsettling way. Upon further inspection (from about two feet way, mind you), I noted another such creature nearby on the same plant. By the time I'd summoned threetimes and tutordennis outside to corroborate my amazement and concern, and we'd stood around for a bit, regarding and discussing the caterpillars, their state of aliveness, and possible paths of action regarding the plant, it had become too dark for any further gardening.

For someone who routinely picks up worms, spiders, snails, and other buggy critters regularly (usually in order to move said critter to a safer location), this is perhaps an odd reaction. But I've never been too keen on larval-type critters, large slugs, unidentifiable critters, or really large worms. They just give me a funny feeling. I'm okay with their existence and all, and feel no need to deprive them of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness, but I'd much prefer that they pursued it elsewhere.

[Edit: Fear of the unknown being what it is, I find that learning more about someone often has a mitigating effect; I've so far narrowed this beastie down to the Sphingidae family. I still feel like I need to go take a shower though.]

Crossposted to gothgardener.

Thanks for the quiz, Bunky! I'm proud to be a "word nerd." As for caffeine, I can quit any time...really.

I'm off to the bank and hardware store. I think I'll pick out some groundcover for the area around the lemon tree today. Babytears is a common and hardy one, but maybe I can find something more unusual. I'm now a member of a neat community called gothgardener, where a black thumb is a good thing. Actually, I think mine is a little too green; I keep getting all sorts of volunteers (plants coming up that I didn't plant), like basil, an artichoke plant, and even eggplant. How bizarre is that? The painting of the hallway is going well; threetimes has done a great job. Now we just need to match the paint on the door jambs, and we're good to go. Also on the agenda: shampooing a portion of the carpet and a buttload of laundry. I lead a glamorous life indeed.