When Val's Humane, You Snore

As you may recall (even if you only scrolled through to look at the pictures), Monday I took a picture of a yellowjacket that I narrowly avoided squashing on my porch handrail...and later saw a LADYBUG in the picture, on the other side of the handrail. Ladybugs are a special symbol for me, which I associate with my mom.

Yesterday as I started to the garage for my daily trip to town, I saw the yellowjacket again. He was crawling on the second porch step. That yellowjacket was movin' mighty slow. Slower than Uncle Joe on the porch of the Shady Rest Hotel. The temperature was in the 40s, so that yellowjacket was sluggish. I briefly thought of stepping down on him, and never worrying again about accidentally getting myself stung reaching for the rail. But I didn't.

It's not like I'm an animal rights activist. I don't think an old soul has come back to inhabit that yellowjacket. I wasn't wearing fancy shoes that I couldn't bear to sully with yellowjacket guts. That insect was right in my way, but I stepped around him (paying special attention to the handrail in case he had friends) so he could remain alive. He wasn't bothering me. I was in HIS house, he wasn't in mine. No need to crunch his exoskeleton just because he's not cute and fluffy.

At the bottom of the four steps, I thought, "I wonder if that ladybug is still here, too!" So I leaned over and looked at the back side of the rail, and you'll never believe what I saw. Well. I guess you WILL believe it, because I'm making a big deal out of it, AND

I HAVE A PIC! So obviously, it DID happen. But you'll be shocked at the rest of the story. Or maybe not. Because I have a pic of THAT too!

Now there were TWO ladybugs! Even stranger, it looks like one of the beetles that I always see (still ladybugs to me), and an ACTUAL ladybug!

Gosh! I hope I wasn't interrupting anything untoward. Like a secret mating ritual. Like the interbreeding of a beetle and a ladybug. Or even worse...that one was not devouring the other! Also, I hope they were not destined to be intertwined in that webby-looking mass, to be saved alive for future consumption, like Ellen Ripley's ill-fated crew members in Aliens. Anyhoo...I took that discovery as a good way to start my out-of-the-house day. Seeing TWO ladybugs!

On I went to town, where I stopped at Waterside Mart for two scratchers. No other customers were at the counter. I went to the only clerk working, at the register on the right. He got my tickets out of the case, I handed him exact payment, and turned to my left to head for the door, and saw

A glint on the tile floor! A PENNY! Just for me! My rightful penny! A 2016 version. That's the year I retired, and the year The Pony graduated from high school (VALEDICTORIAN, you know!) and went off to college.

I turned back to the clerk as another customer was approaching him to pay. "I'm just going to grab this penny." Not that I had to tell him, of course. It was on the floor. Fair game, I say! Even though they had a penny tray on the counter above. It was way back from the edge, though. So I don't think anyone was giving away this penny to the common pot. They were just careless and the forces of the universe put it there where I was stopping that day and dropped it. I like to warn the clerks, though. Because sometimes they think I'm a common weirdo (I'd really like to see how they describe me on their blogs), or even worse, they think I'm a secret shopper, and get all panicky and extra-polite to the next customer while giving me the side-eye.

Anyhoo...I found two ladybugs and one penny on Tuesday. It was also a very good day.
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Let the record show that this was penny #57 for my Future Pennyillionaire collection.
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