Pleasant surprise!

This evening reestablished my confidence in the younger generation. It is almost impossible to be with any group of people without someone bemoaning the fact that the "younger generation is going down the road to ruin." Many, many years ago, I am quite sure that folks were saying the same thing about my generation and I suppose now it is our turn to be disgusted with the morals of the next group of young people. Personally, I have always been quite impressed with the young people that I have had the honor of knowing. On a whole, they are a good bunch and a lot of fun. Tonight, however, would have made anyone think better of this group. As I sat fishing on the pier (and not catching anything edible, I might add), two fishermen gently glided their boat alongside of me. I recognized them as friends of my son..two of the many that spent days on end at our place when they were young teens. After visiting for a few minutes, one of them asked if I had caught any fish. "No, not a one." I told them. Reaching into their cooler, one of the young men grabbed a nice size Red Drum fish and tossed it up on the pier. I thought this was the nicest gesture. These two sweet guys, Taylor and Brandon, had just provided me with dinner! What a beautiful fish it was! It measured twenty-two inches! I am impressed with the kindness they had shown..it does the heart good to know such fine young people!

This morning while taking a few minutes break from terracing another part of our yard, my son noticed a bee crawling on the ground. We sat watching this bee as it made a run straight for a patch of sand near our feet. Then like greased lightning it started digging a hole. Sand was practically flying as it dug. Suddenly it turned and headed back in the direction it had come. Keep in mind that this bee was crawling not flying. We watched until it was out of sight. Careful not to damage the hole, we observed its handiwork. The hole was quite deep and the entrance was about the size of a nickel. While we were standing there staring at a hole in the ground, the bee returned. This time it was dragging a very large locust (about three inches long)! Before I could get the camera focused on the pair, the bee slipped the locust into the hole and out of sight. How

it knew that the locust was going to fit with such ease was beyond me, but the bug just slipped right in without even scraping the tunnel. The bee then proceeded to partially cover the hole. It did not completely fill it and then (this time) flew off to find another prey. After a bit of research, I have decided our bee is a Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophila Nigricans). This wasp is known as a digger wasp..huh..who would have guessed??..since they did burrows as a nest. The locust was a food supply for a larvae that would hatch from an egg that was laid before the hole was completely covered. Smart bee, providing for its young before it has even hatched!