Last Thursday we had a pretty spectacular rainbow:


A double rainbow, even! what does it mean?


It was so bright!

It was a complete rainbow, all the way from end to end. Most impressive was just how long it lasted! It was there when I left my office, and I took the first picture while I was waiting for Alex to pick me up. The second picture was a few minutes into the commute home. It was still visible when we made the last turn toward our apartment, so it lasted at least 30 minutes or so, just that we saw. Plus however long it was out before I left my office, and however long it lasted after we were home.




(Picture from my mom's camera.)
A really cool jumping spider on the catmint at my mom's! I think this one is a "red-backed jumping spider", based on one picture I found on a random guy's personal website cataloguing all the insects and spiders he's seen in Colorado. He also had a hard time IDing this one, which is interesting to me. I certainly haven't ever seen one that color and that size!


(Picture from my mom's camera.)
A giant hornworm on her tomatoes! (Though this one is actually apparently a tobacco hornworm, though they all eat most of the same stuff.) Apparently there were THREE huge hornworms on the tomatoes, and they just about skeletized the poor plant. (Left the fruit alone, but devoured the leaves.)
The hornworms are obviously FAR too big for Berry Mad the toad, and my mom felt bad just straight up killing them. They do turn into sphinx moths, which are really cool. Luckily for the hornworms, my mom found a way to rehome them, lol. Her neighbor (who they've been trying to get along with and build up neighborly relations with) has two young sons, so my mom asked her if they happen to like bugs. These caterpillars are so big, they've got to be pretty close to pupating, and that was always a joy to me and Taylor as kids, getting to watch caterpillars metamorphose. Neighbor said yes, they *love* bugs, and in fact she'd originally wanted to be an entomologist, ha. So the hornworms get to be appreciated until they turn into moths, and my mom's tomatoes get a chance to recover.

I think I've mentioned before that Bella is the first dog I've had that really cares to watch TV. Cy and other dogs I've had will look at the TV in response to sound or something (Cy in particular, before going deaf, was extremely interested in and excited by kitten sounds), but they've never cared to watch it.

Bella... does. It's very funny. She will watch for several minutes at a stretch sometimes, very clearly tracking things across the screen, ears up, completely focused. She especially loves wildlife rehab shows. (Her absolute favorites seem to be foxes and deer, as well as horses, which she is also very excited by in real life.)