Secret Beauty

Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home! Your house is being made into jam!!!

This ladybug was secretly hiding inside the apricot I’m holding in the photograph above. With the bumper crop of apricots ripening on my tree I’ve spent most of the last two days preserving literally hundreds of them. At some point, I switched from tearing the fruit open with my thumbs and started using a small paring knife.

And, lo and behold! When I pulled the stone from this apricot, I found a ladybug tucked behind it!

Now, I’ve come across tiny ants inside of many fruits, but only when they’ve been soft and bruised with a noticeable gap in the flesh as an entry point. Somehow, this ladybug found her way inside without any apparent hole! Upon close inspection, I was and still am astonished by my discovery.

 

Photo Credits: Secret Beauty by Susan J. Preston, Santa Fe, New Mexico © 2019, all rights reserved
Technical: iPhone 6s

Queen of the Bosque

Queen of the Bosque

In which the Great Dame of the Desert reminds me of the beauty and wonder of all living things…