A massive cleanup of the yard is in full swing. There were so many back-to-back hurricanes and tropical storms crashing through the area that we never completed one cleanup before another had to begin. Usually, those were put off as much needed repairs were done first. Now, however, there has been just enough break for us to really make progress in areas that were neglected...neglected far too long. This cleanup has brought some giggles...some tears...and a lot of achy muscles but...we are making progress.
While doing this cleanup, Son noticed that there were termites literally infesting the live citrus trees. I was wondering why so many looked rather puny this year but never expected it to be termites. He started treating the ground around the trees and I started lopping off any limbs that looked compromised. It is just about to the point that we should fully take out the whole grove but we will try to salvage any that we can. It was on one of those "lopping frenzies" that I had to stop and enjoy one of those miracles of life situations. A Great Swallowtail was just emerging from its cocoon! This was interesting enough but then I found an Orange Dog Caterpillar on the same tree! How neat to find two stages of the same type butterfly! Too bad neither of these eat termites.
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