Last night when we went to the pasture to feed our two old sweeties, it was a perfect evening. The sun was setting, casting a gorgeous glow to the land. To my way of thinking, the temperature was exactly what a Colorado summer evening ought to be. The grass was still green, thanks to the rain we’ve had.
It was bucolic.
It could have been a watercolor landscape painting.
It was that beautiful.
Perfect.
Awe-inspiring.
My heart opened to the evening and I took it all in, relaxing more with each breath.
Then I stepped out of the pickup.
And was greeted by hordes of grasshoppers.
I mean there were millions of the little buggers.
Billions maybe!
They were jumping all over the place. It was like grasshoppers in a popcorn popper without the lid.
“Grasshopper poppers” for short.
Of course, the horses were not by the gate. In fact, they were in the far pasture. And our little herd of oldsters was in the southern-most corner of the pasture. Any farther and it would have been New Mexico.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration.
But they were at the boundary of the property.
Which gave me a very long, grasshopper infused trek.
They got in my pant leg.
They jumped in my face.
There were literally clouds of hoppers around me.
Thank goodness they don’t bite or sting.
I have no idea why it’s been such a good year for grasshoppers, but the term bumper crop seems to fit.
I noticed there were fewer hoppers out where the horses were grazing. The grass wasn’t as tall and probably less inviting. Those horses are smart aren’t they?
Bud wasn’t sure he wanted to walk all the way in to get his dinner, but eventually he agreed. Bud, Pepper, Red. Amigo and I made our way back through the land of the grasshoppers.
AGAIN!
Just another delightful aspect of horse keeping.
What’s the grasshopper situation like in your neck of the woods?
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August 11, 2011 at 11:12 am
Anne Wells
ZIT!!! In the 23 years living in Sequim —–never a grasshopper.
As a child -experiencing a “grasshopper popper” would have been an over the top-ah ha moment. As the grasshoppers started arriving , it became a MUST DO nightly activity to “get your jar(with a screen covering on top) and let’s go capture the grasshoppers.” The really ah ha time was when all grasshoppers were released at the same time. Guess that must have been our “grasshopper popper” time ——-for us it was a lot of laughs, and squealing. Not so much fun as the June Bugs put in there appearance……especially the ones with the pinchers. Ouch.
August 11, 2011 at 11:58 am
Laurel
I remember doing the same thing, Anne! Very exciting fun times for us neighborhood kids—-probably not so great, I realize now, for the grasshoppers!