I haven't been able to use my computer since Tropical Storm Lee's thick clouds blocked the signal from my house to the satellite about 5 days ago. We only got a little wind, but a total of 9.6" of rain fell during the storm. I'll be picking up debris for a while.

Some of the buckeyes pupated, some are still cats. I released two more spicebush swallowtails right before the storm - both males - and released quite a few pipevine swallowtails during breaks in the storm. I didn't want to release them, but I couldn't keep them in the cage indefinitely, and it sure looked like T.S. Lee would be here forever!

The monarchs that I brought in to finish raising were indeed parasitized. Of the 50 or so cats, all but 13 exuded a runny string. When I scraped the chrsyalis off the cage, I'd find what looked like a maggot larva in each one. It'd wiggle back and forth - disgusting! I flushed them all so that the parasitizing critter wouldn't be able to live and multiply.

The storm brought a cold front with it. It got down to the upper 50's last night (it was 59 when I got up) and it's a lovely 76 degrees at 1:22 p.m.! It's supposed to get down to the mid-fifties tonight - I sure do love sleeping with the window open! I know it won't last, but I'm sure enjoying it while I can.

I only wish most of this rain had gone to Texas and Oklahoma - those two states could sure use it, especially now with the fires! If you got rains from T.S. Lee, I hope they were beneficial!

Sherry