Beetle Therapy

   Earlier today, I had just about enough...enough of everything.  I was tired.  Purely exhausted, I sat down on the front steps to gather my thoughts.  Normally, I would have either headed to the pier or the woods but I was just too tired.

  While I was sitting there, I heard a small thud on the steps.  Looking down, I found a beetle.  Startled, the beetle ran off the wooden step and onto the gravel where it immediately flipped upside-down.  Well now, Beetle!  You cannot do much scurrying on your back!  A quick flick of my hand and the beetle was off and running. The thud did not seem to bother it much.  The beetle had fallen from the dying white oak tree that is right next to the steps.  I figured it had been doing its job of gnawing through the dead/dying wood and somehow made a misstep. 

  This is a Betsy Beetle.  While I am not sure about the scientific name, we always called them either Betsy Beetles or Bess Beetles.  Come to think of it, I am not sure why we did that, either.  I am sure of one thing, however.  Watching the beetle did make things seem a bit easier to handle....or maybe the ten minute rest did...not sure about even that.