My husband learned early on that I’m not the kind of woman that appreciates receiving flowers. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are pretty but it makes me kind of sad knowing that someone cut these beautiful things and they will soon die. That and being cheap, I don’t like the idea of spending nearly a weeks worth of produce money on something that is simply nice to look at. He only made the mistake of presenting me with that particular gift a few times before he got the idea that he was going to need to work a little harder at finding me gifts I would really appreciate. Since then I have received all sorts of wonderful things! He once brought me a giant moth in a cardboard box that he found on the side of the warehouse where he works. She even laid about a thousand eggs in the box before he got her home. He has brought me all sorts of frogs, toads, turtles and insects. Oh yes…and pennies. I just love pennies that have been left on the ground…but I digress…
So my dear husband was out working in the orchard, clearing the grass and weeds out of the cages that surround our fruit trees. I was about half way through my clients for the day. Between sessions I usually sit down at my computer and check messages, etc. Today when I came back to my computer, I got the most unexpected surprise. He had left me a mayonnaise container with a note. It said, “Look Inside!”  This little guy is what I found inside the clever gift wrapping…
We have a wide variety of insects here at the farm and it is not uncommon to see a walking stick on the side of the house or on the fence down in the vineyard, but I have never seen one this small before. Generally Walking Sticks are brown. This little guy was so young that he was still green.
I carefully opened the flip lid of the mayonnaise container. With in a minute, the little Walking Stick ventured out and explored the outside of the little plastic world that he had been contained in. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get away, he just seemed very curious about everything. He even let me take a short video of his little walking stick dance.

After he was done doing his little dance, I grabbed the first flat thing I could find to put him on to take a picture with a Quarter for scale. It just so happened that it was a little mirror. Slowly he walked onto the surface of the mirror and immediately his head went down as if he was staring at the bug on the other side of the glass. He appeared mesmerized by his reflection.