Keith came into the house wearing his work boots, as a general rule we don't wear work boots in the house. I thought he must have something very important needing immediate attention. He was carrying his phone and asked if I could guess what he found in the tall grass. Since I've lost a fence post pounder, and a collection of other tools, over the years, I figured he'd found one of them with the hay mower. Luckily, that wasn't it.
Keith likes for me to guess things like, “Who do you think I got a call from today?” Or, “Guess who I ran into?” Then there are the, “Guess what I found in the pasture?” questions. He also likes to stump me with trivia, too. He'll ask me,“Do you know how many kernels there are in a bag of seed corn?”
“Eighty thousand,” I'll answer casually. I'm smarter than I look.
“That's right, you're pretty good.”
Actually, I'm not smart. I have a great memory. He's asked me the same trivia questions over, and over, again.
He started telling me about the swishing sound he heard in the tall grass. It wasn't loud, but it was distinct. When he parted the grass blades he noticed grasshoppers and crickets. Then he saw her; the Praying Mantis. She rested on his hand for a while. He took her picture then got rid of her. We haven't seen too many Praying Mantis over the years, which is a good thing. Praying Mantis aren't welcome here. Praying Mantis kill humming birds. Keith's pictures were terrific, so, unlike the Praying Mantis, I will not be biting my mates head off, especially over something as insignificant as dirt tracked through the house.
