Friday, August 17, 2007

Praying, of a different kind

Last night my employer sponsored an outing for employees at the Durham Bulls game. For those not from here, yes, there really is a team and yes, the movie was filmed in here. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Susan Sarandon walking around Durham(I actually didn't live her way back then), but a former friend apparently delivered flowers to her. But I digress. Back to the original story of the day.

Yesterday was a scorcher...literally. By the time I got to the game at 7pm it was still over 90 degrees. Since we didn't have a picnic, we were given "Wool E Bucks" to spend on food, beer, ice cream or whatever.(Wool E Bull is the mascot!) So, people noshed, drank and socialized. The game was pretty boring as the other team tromped our a$$, so I was chatting more than paying attention to the field.

At some point during the evening, I looked out towards the field and noticed something large flying around. At first I thought it was bat, but quickly realized it looked green. Then I noticed it seemed to be TWO of whatever it was stuck together...in a mating kind of way. By this time, the crowd in our section all noticed it. I was sitting with a coworker and we were pointing and laughing, trying to figure out what it was. Bat? Bird? LARGE insect? Well, as we pointed and laughed, it flew straight to us!! I swayed to the side as it perched in my friend Deb's hair. The girls behind us screamed and mayhem began...okay not really, but it was funny to see their reactions nonetheless. I think I got the best look at it since I had to swipe it out of her hair. It was nothing more than a very large praying mantis.

As a friend recently said, praying mantises(manti/mantid/???) are mystical creatures. I tend to agree. They look like wise old men ready to teach any spiritual lesson one might need. I can kind of see it saying, "Snatch the pebble young grasshopper." It brought laughter to us, so it was teaching us a spiritual lesson of "live, love, laugh" or "laughter is the best medicine" or any other laughter related cliche. Nothings better than being able to laugh at your friends or yourself!

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