Another day another 5 miles.
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Just your ordinary house fly on your ordinary cactus bloom.
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Thistle seeds again. There's something about the luminescence and silky reflectance that just draws you in.
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I include this one not because it's a good photograph but because of personal history. This is a Spittle Bug. A tiny insect with no skin that forms a cover of bubbles to protect itself from dehydration. I haven't seen one since I was a pre-teen.
When I was a small child we picked black berries growing wild on fence rows and in random clumps in the countryside. This wasn't optional, it was part of subsistence farming. We also collected and shelled native pecans, I'm only grateful that Mom didn't know that acorns were edible.
My older siblings who knew better told me it was snake spit and there had to be a snake nearby which terrified me but I HAD to continue harvesting nature's offering, like I said it wasn't an option. When I consulted the pre-internet, i.e. the school library, I discovered what it really was and using a stick pierced the foam to find the tiny insect that immediately began spinning a new covering. Needless to say my siblings and I weren't on speaking terms for awhile.
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That is not just an ordinary fly on an ordinary cactus flower!
It is an iridescent creature resting on a huge expanse of lemon yellow flower! It's gorgeous.
The thistle seeds look to me just like ballerinas in their wide skirts as they twirl around on the stage!
And I love the lowly spittle bug, partly because of your personal history with it, and also because this is a good photo!
I really am enjoying your photos. (Can you tell? 
)
Yay for more wonderful macro photos!
