We may have entered a bug phase with Maggie. There is this guy, a huuuuge beetle we found dead in the gutter on our way home from a hike. Maggie just sat right down and picked it up and started looking at it from all angles. She was very curious about how it died (perhaps drowning in a huge downpour the evening before, perhaps heat exhaustion and dehydration from earlier in the day). And also very curious about if the ants would do a good enough job eating him up now. The last thing she said upon leaving him in the gutter was "let's come back and check if the ants have eaten all of him up." And a couple days ago Mags came in from the backyard with something between her thumb and index fingers and started walking upstairs. "Whatcha got there, Maggie?" I asked, feigning nonchalance. "A roly poly. I've decided he's going to be my pet upstairs." "Bugs belong outside, sweetie, especially when we're staying in someone else's house." "Blah blah blah blah blah blah." "Blah blah blah blah blah blah." "Blah blah blah." "Blah blah blah." "But it's just a rock. I'm just pretending." "Oh. Ok. That's ok then." When I went upstairs later, I looked on a windowsill and there indeed was a roly poly. "Maggie, this is a real roly poly. I thought you said it was a pretend one, a rock." "Well, it's just a rock that moves."
And this, appropos of nothing, from last night, which continues to blow my mind. We've been eating out of the garden every day, at least one meal. Usually that means salad, which is very disappointing to Maggie. Last night it was rainy so we opted for garden soup instead: kohlrabi, broccoli, kohlrabi greens (similar to but tougher than collard greens), yellow squash, carrots cooked in a chicken broth. This soup had a strong flavor, and the greens were quite prominent. Maggie ate five helpings. And asked for sixths. Whereupon we told her that if she ate any more her stomach would explode.
