Do You Hear the Grasshopper?

Inspirational song: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (Carl Douglas)

My mother got a technology upgrade today. She was in denial for weeks that her first generation tablet was at the end of its useful life, and over the weekend she finally had to accept the reality of planned obsolescence. The good news is for the first time ever, my mother has the ability to video conference. However, the bad news is my mother now has the ability to video conference. I suspect there is nothing I'll ever be able to keep secret again, like how far behind I am in house cleaning. I had to get over my embarrassment quickly this evening. Months ago, my man made fun of us when my daughter and I used the decades of development and billions of dollars that went into research and infrastructure to use FaceTime to make cats hiss at each other. There was a lot of that going on today, with me following the kitten around the house as she jumped all the other animals and made a pest out of herself. And on the other end, I got to watch my mom's enormous puppy climb all over her and be jealous that she was talking to that disembodied voice and not him.

Mom's Internet speed is the next upgrade that needs to happen. Her video faded out several times, and more than once it hung up and skipped, making her sound suspiciously like Max Headroom. It was funny, but it made it difficult to carry on a conversation. The video was good enough for me to show her the condition of the rug I ruined over the weekend. There is still detail, but I have to shine bright light on it to really see it (see how it washed out the white cat in the picture). In the regular fluorescent glow from the ambient lighting, it's pretty dark.

I'm still avoiding spending much time outside in the Park. It was another day of extreme heat and humidity, but that should break in a day or two. It will come with rain, so I can only hope I'm able to mow and edge. The banana spider that hangs out by the gate is growing freakishly large, and when I walk in her field of vision, she bounces vigorously in her web, threatening to put the Kung Fu moves on me if I get closer (which I certainly will not). This afternoon, my little red-headed dog flushed a rodent out from under the shed, and I saw it race up the fence, and disappear into the thicket. Great. Just freaking great. At least last night, the wildlife I saw was cooler and cuter than anything. I got the greatest insect photos of my whole life. I swear, that grasshopper was not only posing for me, he was trying to get me to come outside and party with him.