Yesterday was a big mail coup for Laurel: educational software titles I bought at Broderbund's summer sale (including Kid Pix, which she's wanted all year) and a HUGE box of books from revme. Holy moly, man, you didn't tell me it was /that/ big! I swear it weighed half as much as the kiddo while I was carrying it home from the mailboxes. How much do you want for it?

We see a pretty limited collection of fauna visit our second-floor container garden. On an average day, I'll see several doves, some small birds that look like starlings, and perhaps a robin. Today I saw something big and colorful: an Eastern tiger swallowtail. When I told Vogon there was a giant butterfly on the patio, he went outside and his face lit up like he was a little kid. I hope to see it again tomorrow and take photos.

Valentine the mantid gets credit for spotting it first, as she fixated on something outside the window while I was handling her. I thought it was a bird until it rested on the lime tree and I could make out that it was a butterfly nearly as big as both my hands put together! The Wikipedia article isn't kidding when it says the butterflies can be as big as 12 cm across.

Tonight's our first PTA meeting of the school year, which means my Scout uniform's summer holidays are over. I pulled out my most-often-worn shirt to remove last year's patrol badge and sew on my new Circle Ten CSP. (I won't tell you how many Denver Area CSPs I have.)