John and Martha returned to Florida on the 21st, Nathan and Kelly departed for Saudi Arabia on the 26th, and my parents arrive on the 5th of October. We're being spoiled.

Iola was nervous today -- she woke up from her naps crying, and cried in fear when I sneezed. She's only had three shocking things happen in her life: 1. she scratched her eye with her fingernail, 2. I bumped her head in the car and 3. I tried to feed her water with vitamin D syrup from a bottle. Her fears are primal: being alone, falling, hunger, injury. But I wonder what was it about today that made her frightened of everything.

I read a study last year that looked at why some mother birds feed their babies spiders at a particular age. Spiders aren't particularly nutritious, and they are harder to catch than juicier bugs. The researchers found that the baby birds that had spiders for breakfast were smarter and more brave than the ones that hadn't. They were better at jumping out of the nest on their first flight. It was some amino acid in the spiders. I particularly remembered the study because I had just witnessed John Mangin eat a spider, and he is indeed smart and brave.

John (Gravois) and I intend to feed Iola spiders when she goes off to kindergarten, but now I am wondering if I should start right away. I could have Brian Calvert mail me some tasty fried ones from the Phnom Penh outdoor markets.



  
Going back in time, a bit, to the Liwa trip:
           
Camel breakfast:

These baby camels got milk, fed by a Bangladeshi man from a very big bottle

Momma, baby and beetle tracks in the desert:


Storytime; maybe this is why she knows fear