Garden Monsters

This is one of the horrors that awaits us in our garden. It's called a Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper, and they grow to be almost 3 inches long. Reminds me of those 50s sci-fi movies where mankind is threatened by giant radioactive bugs (The Praying Mantis, Them, The Beginning of the End, etc.). Thank God they can't fly. I mean I hope they can't fly. Just learned that they are poisonous, and have been known to cause bird deaths and extreme vomitousness among mammals that try to eat them. So the bright colors are a form of warning. I've also seen some that are black with red spots.

Tropical Storm Erin made a feeble sweep through Texas on Thursday. I know there must have been some flooding, somewhere. Not here anyway. I was watching the Weather Channel during the height of the "storm", and they had one of their ace reporters down on the beach at Corpus Christi, wearing serious weather gear and looking slightly disappointed at the lack or rain and wind. In fact there were kids in swimsuits playing in the surf behind him...surf that did not appear to be particularly menacing. The next time I saw him report on the storm he had changed into a polo shirt. Maybe in the interim someone pointed out how silly he looked.

My dad came out to visit with us for a few days...first time he's ever been here. It was important to Michelle and I that he get to see his new grandchildren, and I also wanted him to see what we've done with the place. One day we took him to L'Auberge Du Lac, a posh hotel and casino in Lake Charles. Excellent buffet there (seems like most of the eateries in this part of the world are buffets, goes with the popularity of overconsumption). Michelle and I played the slots and succeeded in turning $100 into $70. My dad, on the other hand, parked himself by one of the crap tables and actually left with a few dollars more than he started with. He flew home on Wednesday.