The Drink

Today was the first day I needed to water the vegetables in the pots and planters. I'm no fan of the schlep -90 feet of sidewalk to the spigot of water, usually blocked by a car parked in the driveway. So I was happy with the rain for that sake, but truth is the yew tree was blocking much of the rain from getting to the tomatoes and then there's the tomato leaves, sending precious drops off to the side. Next year, I'm going to pass on all those tasty varieties and get drought tolerant varieties. But all things need water, right? This morning, I splashed water onto the stepping stones and no sooner this creature came on down. At first I didn't understand.

Last week I saw a carpenter bee rest on the yew tree for quite a while. I needed to investigate that too. It had just rained hard and there were drops of rain caught in the needle axils (?). He was lapping it up. I'm always amazed (why?) when I see insects stop to drink. Maybe its because they seem so self-sufficient, why stop to drink. Or maybe its because the water drop is so big to the body of the insect, but then so are we small to the lake or river. Whatever the reason, it makes me think of the preciousness of the resource. I splash water, butterfly there to drink. If I had not, would it have gone thirsty?

Click on it to see its crazy eyes.