Transgender Insects.

After walking 18 holes on Saturday morning, I returned home to a full day's worth of yard work in preparation for overseeding our lawn with rye grass. (Thankfully, we pay to have that done, although I always believe I could probably do a better job given enough time, energy and seed) Ashley attended a baby shower, leaving Jack and I to fend for ourselves. Jack assisted, wielding a rake and helping me bag up piles of pine needles that collect under our gargantuan pine tree in the front yard. We also made a trip to the local hardware store to purchase a chainsaw and then proceeded to trim some of the 10,000 trees in our yard. We are manly men.

I was surprised and pleased at his willingness to help, and the extent of time the project held his attention. But, he is two and a half, after all, so his random thought generator did kick in after about 10 minutes.

As we were hauling tree limbs into the back alley for disposal, Jack saw something move in the dirt. Immediately, he zoomed in on it, scooped it up and proceeded to show me that he had caught a small beetle. (I'm not an entomologist so don't ask me what genus and species it was. All I recall is that I've seen this type before, they aren't harmful, and have a neat red, grey and black pattern on their backs.)

Proudly presenting the creepy-crawler to me, Jack proclaimed, "I found a bug! His name is Lisa!"

[UPDATE: It was a Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus kalmii).]