Hiking,  Outdoors,  Texas,  Travel & Places

Io Moth Caterpillars in the Big Thicket

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You may have noticed the uptick in posts here this week. That’s because I am finally returning to blogging regularly after relinquishing some of the grip social media has had on it. What I would have been posting to social media I am returning to posting here. Blogging, for me, really took a hit in 2020, though there had been a downturn for about a year before that. And looking back now, I realize just how much never made it to the blog. Even some of the stuff I would share to social media, not everything even made it there. But, I’ve been feeling to tug to get back here this year and I finally realized I had to give up the dedication to social media and put it back here. I’m still trying to find the balance because there are some internet friendships and acquaintances I would like to continue to stay in touch with, but so far in this one week I have rekindled my enjoyment of slowly reading some blogs versus the intense need to scroll and see what people are continuously posting. Which, I don’t know that people even always reading an entire post when you are scrolling, I know I didn’t always.”Oooh, nice photo” and then hit that heart button and move on to the next thing to say “Ooh, nice photo”. Rinse and repeat! I’m still trying to figure out where it all fits but for now I’ve been enjoying the return to blogging and my writing creativity.

All of that aside, let’s transport back to last October and a trip to the Big Thicket when we stumbled across a bunch of caterpillars on the edge of a tree stem. We later figured out all of the spiny caterpillars were Io moths, Automeris io. They are gorgeous adults, the males with their bright yellow coloring and large dark spots on their underwings. The females are still pretty but stand out much less, as is per the usual (normally) in the animal world. Caterpillars eat a wide range of species from maples to cherries to elms and willows. A lovely, random encounter!

Oh, before I sign off, what is everyone using for an RSS feed reader these days? Bloglovin’ seems to be almost defunct and is constantly down. I have two Feedly accounts but am at max capacity on those and either need to downsize some of the feeds I follow (a lot/many are nonexistent now) or start a new account so I can add new blogs to follow. Or maybe there are better options? Email works for a select few but like everyone else who gets too many emails and never reads them—I would prefer to keep only very favorites onto email and the rest on an RSS feed. I will now lament the demise of Google Reader a decade ago…*sigh*

Also, if you read this blog still, I love comments! Or if you ever feel compelled and subscribe by email you can always reply to the email with a message!

One Comment

  • shoreacres

    I have a Feedly account that I used in the past for a couple of podcasts, and Blogger folks who didn’t provide for email distribution of their blogs. Now, I get those podcasts via apps, and there are only three or four people who don’t allow for email distribution of their blogs.

    I prefer to receive new posts by email. It’s easier for me to keep track of what I’ve read and responded to. Occasionally I’ll scroll through the WordPress reader, which now allows listings from Blogger, Squarespace, self-hosted blogs, and so on. It’s a good place to keep blogs from people who insist on posting once or twice a day — or more. I don’t need that in my inbox, but if something captures my attention, I can respond.

    To be honest, I’m increasingly glad that I’ve avoided social media from the beginning — for a variety of reasons. I have friends who spend hours each day on Facebook, Instagram, and so on. I just don’t have the time.

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