It's spelled Maguire: All bugged out

After my grandfather had died in August 2003, my granny wanted to move to town and sell the farm because she couldn't take care of the old farm house. That winter, my husband and I purchased the farm from my granny and she purchased our little house in town. I use the word farm lightly because we have 20 acres but do not farm it. My husband would like to, but he really isn't that much of a farm boy. He is turning into a country boy, but not really a farm boy. You have to get up really early be a farm boy.

Sorry, went of on a rabbit chase for a second.

Living on a "farm" you see many things that people who live in the city don't come across very often if ever. We have seen deer, coyotes, wild turkeys, a mountain lion, armadillos, raccoons, skunks, and of course the very annoying cattle that poop in my yard and eat my flowers. Cows are really stupid. Why would you eat a beautiful plant?

Oh, there goes that dang rabbit again. Sorry.

We have learned a lot about animals and bugs that you hear and see in the country. Did you know that a coyote typically won't eat large animals like cattle unless the animal is sick and the coyote can't find anything else? I was under the impression that coyotes are very threatening animals. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near one, but they are kind of neat to watch running out in the pasture. Another known fact that you probably didn't know was that a 4 1/2 foot long black rat snake can make a sound that imitates a rattlesnake to scare predators. I bet you didn't know that. I bet that you also didn't know that if you aren't paying attention while leaving your house on a very warm summer day, that said 4 1/2 foot long black rat snake will slither inside your house while you are taking your small children outside which in turn causes the small children's mother to start freaking out and almost hyperventilating trying to get someone at her house to kill it.

HOP HOP HOP. Will someone please catch that rabbit???

Okay, all of this rambling had brought me to my original point of this story.

This house was the house that I grew up in and have very fond memories of. Memories of climbing the trees, the hidden valley and exploring the farm all day long. Another favorite memory is of these things.

"What on earth is that?" you ask. That is a little bug called a locust. It is a cousin to the grasshopper.

"What fond memory would you have of that?" you ask. Well you see, during the summer, my sister and I would go around the farm and see how many locust shells we could find. We knew all of the great places to find them and would collect them. This was one of the ways we would entertain ourselves and I can remember running all over the farm finding these things.

Of course it was really exciting for us and I had hoped that it would be exciting for my kids as well.

Needless to say, they were less than enthused.

Audrey thought it was something to eat hence her fork. She actually ended up putting one in her mouth. Gross. I am glad that I don't freak out about germs or else we would have to move.

Abby actually kind of liked them from a distance but it was like pulling teeth to get her to touch one. When she finally did, she was so proud as were me and her daddy.

Don't even think about eating one of those. It isn't going to happen little girl!

One days worth of collecting yielded about 40 locust shells. A very cheap form of entertainment. Well at least it was for the 15 minutes that it kept us occupied.