Yay Caterpillars!

If you look at that leaf, you'll see two things. There's the exoskeleton in the upper left corner....ignore that. Over to the right hand side of the leaf, you should see a tiny, tiny caterpillar. That is a newly hatched monarch 'pillar. I'm not even sure if he/she registers on a ruler. I've started looking for more caterpillars. Ranger B has set up a really nice butterfly garden that has all sorts of host plants. He was quizzing my on what hosts what and I had to confess that I didn't know. I'm still working on ID-ing adult butterflies. I'm not yet at the point where I can look at a species and know what their host plant is.

Anyway, I'm going to keep looking for caterpillars. We have host plants for the bigger swallowtails which make great display caterpillars. I visited a friend who's working for Franklin County Metro Parks and she gave me some good pointers on finding eggs. I'm not great at finding eggs. I used her tips a little later to find 3 eggs and 2 caterpillars. I'll take them in on Saturday when I work next. I'll have to comb the plants when I get in that day too. There should be caterpillars for everyone by now.

At work, I've been putting together the Junior Ranger program. I have a program laid out and now I just have to type it up so it's clear and understandable. I realize that not everyone knows what a tree cookie is and that I have slang and acronyms that no one else uses. (If I ever give you directions, TL = turn left and TR = turn right.) Now all I need is access to a computer at work. Sigh....soon.

I also went through training on what is called Verbal Judo. And online book can be found here on the topic. It's very interesting. I had heard about this verbal judo thing from my friend Ranger J at school. Some of it is very common sense, really. Don't call the person "Toots" or "Moron." Don't say "shut up" or "it doesn't matter why, just do it." Don't take anything personally. This is stuff I learned through the years in retail. However, I can see where I can become a better communicator, and ranger, if I get good at this.

In other news, I have found a place to stay near work. It's like 10 minutes from the park. There's a drive in movie theater too that's within a bike's ride. The house is beautiful and I'm getting an upstairs bedroom that is essentially the same size as a large studio for the same price as I'm paying in rent now. The might give me an additional bedroom too. Maybe. I'm just working on getting the first two months rent for them. I'll ask later. I'm okay with whatever they give me. I'll be moving in about a week to a week and a half. Anyway, this house is pre-civil war and the owners have been restoring and fixing it up. There's beautiful antiques all over the place (not cluttered, it's just right). The wife is a master gardener and she has landscaped the yard in the most outstanding color display. They have 3 cats and 3 dogs. I've met 2 of each so far. Which leads me to the kitties I've been fostering.....

I still have the kitties. However, they just went to the vet 2 days ago and got a clean bill of health and some shots and worming. I am in the process of trying to find them homes. I have a flier that I'm taking today to post in a few places. That is part of my plans for today. I'm going to pack but I'm going to kinda take it easy today and tomorrow. (I slept in till 6:30AM today! Wooo!) Mom's coming over to help me pack and have lunch with me tomorrow.

You know, as much as I don't like the WWE Smackdowns at 3AM on my bed, I'm gonna miss this kitties. My apartment feels like a home for the first time.

Later.