Hummingbirds and other stuff...

I learned some things recently.  Firstly I learned that I am a pawn in the game of Murphy's Law.  Hannah and I went camping with some friends earlier in the week.  All in all it was a fun trip aside from the fact that 1) it rained like a mother fucker and 2) I started my period as I was setting up the tent.  And it wasn't one of those bad but not-so-bad periods, it was full on shaking pain.  Pads and pills later I was back on the learning wagon.  I learned that my friend - someone who one wouldn't typically peg as a camper - can get along quite well in the outside world as long as she has a chair, a fire, a pokey stick, and something to cook.  It was kind of adorable actually and as a result I ingested many, many crispy marshmallows and toasted Starbust.  Also learned that earwigs love moisture - sort of knew that but the fact really gets hammered into you when the tree above you spits rain drops and bugs simultaneously.

Thanks to the Google Machine, the learning continued on into the next day.  For instance, hummingbirds typically live between 3 and 5 years but, if they aren't killed, can live over a decade.  Also, anemia can cause hair loss - we're not exactly sure how that works chemically and physiologically, but it has something to do with the iron and apparently iron treatments help with hair loss issues even in people who aren't actually anemic.  We also looked up what to call animals who can change sex from male to female.  As it turns out they are still called hermaphrodites (which was our guess) but, if you want to get fancy, you can call them sequential hermaphrodites.  Returning to earwigs (we wanted to know when they typically hibernated - if they do indeed hibernate - so that we can plan future trips accordingly) we learned that they do indeed hibernate, but only during months cold enough that we wouldn't likely be camping.  But we learned too that male earwigs have curved pincers off their abdomens while female earwigs have straight ones.  And the moms are really protective and caring but also slightly stupid.  They clean their eggs every day to make sure no fungi grows on them, but sometimes they collect up little balls of wax, thinking those are also eggs, and give them the nice treatment until they finally figure out that it doesn't small right, at which point they kick it out of the nest.  So, they aren't all that bright, but their maternal hearts are in the right place.  They also eat bad eggs but that's fair since, if the mom dies while looking over her babies, they will help themselves to mommy burgers.  They don't kill their mom, they just eat her if she 'happens' to die.  I'm strangely comfortable with this.

Today I worked and then immediately went to BioLife to donate plasma.  I am trying to save up a little money for my trip to Boston.  All I really need is some petty cash for souvenirs and a few Starbuck's runs.  Also I will be staying with a friend before and after the residency so I want to have some cash for whatever shenanigans we find ourselves obliged to take part in.  I'm very excited to get back there and see my writing friends!  I'm excited for the classes and for the overall high that comes out of such an intimate and intense experience.  When I get back I'm going to try and sneak in some more camping while the weather is warm and then I'm going to saddle up for round two of Solstice.  I have some serious homework to do tomorrow - namely contacting the workshop mentor and starting with the worksheets for everyone's stories.  I have a couple more books I need to finish before I go but all I really have to worry about is the one that's 'required reading.'  I'm getting nervous, anxious, excited, and all manner of synonyms.