Fall Frenzy Writing Contest

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This is my entry for the Fall Frenzy Writing Contest. The rules of the contest included picking one of the provided fall pictures, writing about the picture in under 200 words and posting it to a blog. https://lydialukidis.wordpress.com/fallwritingfrenzy-2022-rules/

Halloween: Credit Selina Wing for Bing

The Pumpkin Gang

When doors creak open on Halloween,

Some sights can never be unseen.

 

A hundred pumpkins, maybe more,

Lurk behind that creepy door.

 

Pumpkins snicker.

Seeds are spit.

None are smashed,

All are lit.

 

With candy-snatching pumpkin grins,

A jack-o-lantern chant begins:

 

Tricks or treats.

Surrender your sweets.

No beets. No meats. No Shredded Wheats.

Don’t care if candy rots our teeth.

 

Give us your chocolate in little wrappers,

your caramel cubes, and sour snappers,

giggling taffy, and waxy lips,

mints, suckers, licorice whips.

 

Candy corn and sugar rocks,

Hand over every rattlebox.

Feed us fudge and gummi ghosties,

Malted milks and cinnamon toasties.

 

Surrender the candy?!

Don’t be cray-cray.

Hide your treats and run away.

 

But, no worries anyway…

The pumpkin gang will soon decay.

Peter Pan

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This Peter Pan tribute car was parked on my dog-walking route. The lyrics on the car come from a song “Lost Boy” by Canadian singer, Ruth B.

For lost boys and girls

Praying Mantis

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I saw this gal on a trash can in Chicago. Praying mantis is the only insect that can move its’ head from side to side.  They eat other insects and could be called “preying” mantis.  This is a female which has a large body but no large antennae. The female cannabalizes the male after mating.

praying mantis

Female praying mantis

 

Luna Moth Cocoon and Pupae

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I found a large cocoon lying on the ground which I later identified as a luna moth cocoon. I kept it for a few months but nothing hatched. I opened it with scissors. The cocoon was made of fibers/silk. Inside was a pupae that had died.

Yellow Globelet Snail

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I have not seen a terrestrial (land) snail since I was a kid. We used to call them wood snails. I picked up a board off the ground at my daughter’s home in Arkansas and discovered a Yellow Globelet Snail (Mesodon clausus) on the underside of the wood. The snail was crawling on the board. I placed the snail on a leaf so he/she (most land snails are hemaphrodites) could be seen more easily in the photo. Many snail species are endangered with lots of possible causes which need more study: loss of habitat, pesticides, herbicides, other invasive species, and even salt that we put on the roads during snow/ice storms. I turned this snail over on his back and watched as he/she quickly flipped themselves over.

 

Yellow Globelet Snail

 

Big Pencil

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I saw this at a rest area on I-80 in Iowa.

RETAIL YOUR DOG?

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Does your dog need a bath? Or possibly a new tail?

Turkey Attack

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I was taking my son to a dental appointment when we saw two wild turkeys in a parking lot in the middle of the city. When I stopped the car they ran to us, circled the car and pecked at it (probably seeing their reflections)