Tipptity-tip

  Early this morning as I stumbled to the kitchen, I heard a funny sound coming from some unseen entity.  At 5am without coffee, I am not much in the mood to go searching for something making a tippity-tip noise so I left it be...for the time being...or so I thought.  As usual, a pot of coffee needed to be set to brewing if I was to wake at all.  Then, the cat needed to be fed.  She has the loudest meow when she is hungry and she is always hungry which is why I was up before sunrise.  That goofy cat decided to sit on my chest and meow until I forced my eyelids to open.  With her fed and quiet (thank goodness!), Mr. PJ wanted his share of breakfast.  Ms. Nycto's loud meowing woke up the dog so he came running to the kitchen nearly colliding with the cat.  Big ruckus...poor brain...need coffee.  Finally, the coffee..nice, hot coffee to waken the brain was brewed! 

  With that mug of coffee in hand, I pulled out a chair to have a seat.  That is when I came face to face (literally) with the tippity-tip maker.  A rather large crane fly decided that my glasses needed attention so it was flippity-flipping all over my face!  Actually, I had disturbed the critter from its busy work.  The crane fly must have come in last night with the cat and decided that indoor life was not its cup of tea.  The insect was bouncing around on the window curtains trying to escape the confines of the kitchen.  Its attraction to my face is still unknown unless it was seeking my help in its getaway.  I did...the critter was set free and seemed happy to take leave of the place.

  Crane flies are some of the most misunderstood insects there are.  At least down here in the Deep South, they are seen as enormous mosquitoes that can bite.  Nope.  They do not.  Other folks claim that they are "skeeter eaters" (which would be a good thing).  Nope. They do not.  Some even claim that they will "ruin your tomatoes"!  Nope.  They do not cause the ugly marks on the tomatoes in the garden.  Put the blame where it is due...those blotches come from stinkbugs.  So, the crane fly is a pretty innocuous critter that does little more than flit around aimlessly hunting for a mate.  The larvae can sometimes cause dark spots in the lawn but, other than that, they pretty much just live and make tippity-tip noises on your window...at 5am...before you have had your coffee.