Living in a thriving ecosystem

This is from last month (January), but I kept forgetting to post it.

I apparently live in a thriving ecosystem. One of the many critters, large and small, we have about are mud wasps. At certain times of the year, they fly around looking for suitable places (warm, dry, undisturbed) to make their little mud nests and plant their eggs inside. Typical places are under the eaves, and inside The Lady's rolled-up yoga mat.

I tend to keep my shoes near the front door, where I sit down and change from my slippers to my shoes, or vice-versa. (''It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...'') After not having worn my green high-top sneakers for a while, I get them down off the shelf and was about to put them on, when I noticed...


Notice that they're in three locations: on the tongue; on the insole; and up the side. When I first noticed, I was a little creeped-out. But then I figured, ''eh.'' I was in a hurry, though, and didn't have time to mess with getting rid of them, so I wore another pair of shoes.

I was just in one shoe, not the other. It was just dirt, really, so some flexing of the canvas and they came right off, with just a little mud residue. Most of the shells were empty -- maybe this means my shoes sat there for **two** cycles of wasp; dunno. But some still had developing critters in them.

The other shoe was untouched. Maybe one shoe stinks more than the other?


--GG