This colorful insect is actually not an ant at all, but instead a solitary wasp, with a nasty sting. About a half inch long, we have seen this bug twice, at the far end of the road that we walk. Nicknamed the cow killer, its sting is rarely fatal, but often painful. It is pretty to look at but definitely do not touch.

Anne has booked the rest of her flights to Boston later this month. She’s leaving me on a jet plane… She had previously booked flights from Saint Louis and had to tack on the extra flights to-and-from San Jose. This trip officially puts us in the sandwich generation. She is headed east to watch Declan, while David and Maren fly to San Diego for a wedding and one last getaway before the player to be named later arrives. We had thought of her flying to and fro from Monterey, but price and this morning’s foggy weather that would’ve delayed such a trip discouraged the idea of that.