An Early Woolly Bear

It has already been over a month since I started this blog.  Wow!  Time really does fly when you're having fun!  I want to thank Julie for suggesting the name I chose for the blog: The Sacred in the Ordinary.  Actually, she first suggested it as a title for my most recent MorningStar Newsletter article about my delight in hanging clothes outdoors to dry. http://www.morningstarretreatcenter.com/index.html  I wasn't sure then about the title, but when the blog called me to write, it seemed like the perfect name.  Thanks, Julie!

So, in the garden, look who I found?!?  I thought it was a bit early, and from what I read and what I remember of other years, I think it is early.  But then, most of this summer has been early in terms of growing vegetables, so I suppose little Woolly needs to be early too.

Banded Woolly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella)

This fuzzy looking caterpillar is the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth.  They have captivated my attention each year when they emerge en masse in Fall.  I knew from experience that they lived through the winter since I've seen them occasionally in the spring, but I was amazed to learn that they truly freeze solid in the winter.  In the arctic, they may go up to 14 years before becoming a moth since the food supply and season are so limited, and they freeze every year!  More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella 

Now there's also myths about the Woolly Bear predicting the length of seasons. I was taught that starting from the head, the black band said how long autumn would be, the brown band, winter length, and the black band at the end, spring.  The Farmers' Almanac speaks only about the brown band and says if it's wide it will be a mild winter and if it's narrow it will be a severe winter.  These two myths basically contradict each other.  Oh, well, it's fun to check them out anyway.  They are one of my favorite sights as autumn approaches.

Some word play fun from when my kids were little:
Isabella Tiger Moth?
No, a bell is a bell!  He-he!!