Between our birth and death we may touch understanding, As a moth brushes a window with its wing. ~Christopher Fry
I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man? ~Zhuangzi
I’ve had much fun with my mystery picture giveaway the last few weeks, and I hope you have too. I’ve loved your imaginative guesses. You’ve opened my eyes to seeing new things in those pictures. And I have to boast a bit here. One of the pictures I posted was a real stumper – that close-up of a woolly worm. Fun that Pat stayed with the woolly worm guess on this one, guessing an upside down woolly worm. Emily gets the most imaginative prize this post with her guess of an aerial view of a yellow and black trash can lid. But the Halloween skeleton eye guess by Lois was imaginative too and very seasonal. I could see the halved avocados that Peggy and Lacy guessed, although Lacy should have stayed with her first thought and then she would have been right. The peacock feather guess from Kathy was good and I liked Connie’s googly eyes on a leaf guess. I don’t know what cookies Ellen and Karen are meaning, but I’m having to squint to see cookies. Rebecca saw a crocheted scrubber or a sunflower. Paula guessed the edge of a painted dish.
But for most of you Wednesday’s mystery photo wasn’t much of a mystery. Kathleen, Shirley B., Lisa B., Laura nailed it in one guess, and Janice W. was absolutely right since she even said the type of moth – a polyphemus moth. I had to look up polyphemus, but yes, it does appear to be a polyphemus moth. Others of you hedged your guesses by saying moth and butterfly or caterpillar or dragonfly while some of you just chose butterfly.
Butterflies and moths are different. Moths are nocturnal and butterflies are diurnal. I’ve heard the word nocturnal a lot. No explanation needed for it, but I was glad the article I found explained diurnal – active during the day. Learn something new every day. The problem is remembering what you learn. The way butterflies and moths hold their wings is different too with butterflies usually folding their wings back, while moths flatten their wings against their bodies or spread them out in a “jet plane” position. This poor moth had already lived out its short life when I found it so that might be why its wings were folded.
And so we come to our last mystery photo for this round of mystery photos. You have until Tuesday night at midnight EST to make a guess on the picture up top to get another entry into the drawing to perhaps be one of three winners who will get their choice of one of my books.
I had my Hometown Book Party today. Always fun to talk books with reading friends. Wish you all could come to one of my parties. It was a rainy afternoon, but some braved the rain and came anyway. And they listened politely while I talked about the history of the Frontier Nursing Service that I centered my book, These Healing Hills, around.
It will be a while before I have a new book out to celebrate. But I am going to be taking part in a fun internet Scavenger Hunt that starts on October 19th. Over twenty authors will be taking part and you will have a chance to win a copy of each author’s new release besides other gifts – over a $1,000 in prizes plus the fun of the Scavenger Hunt. Most of the authors who have posts along the hunt are giving away additional prizes too. I’m giving away a set of my Rosey Corner books and a Willow Tree Keepsake box with a girl holding a dog. So mark your calendars and come along for the fun next week on the 19th.
As always, thanks for reading and for playing my mystery photo game. I’m ready for your guesses, starting now!
Comments 52
Looks like I’ve missed a few of these. Oh well. My guess for this photo is cheesecloth.
Hi Ann! I love guessing these btw. My guess is honeycomb.
Could it be woven burlap ribbon? Sorry I missed your book signing yesterday! I wanted to be there, I just forgot.
Author
Aw, too bad, Evelyn. It would have been fun to see you. It was a rainy afternoon though, but I had a good turn out considering the weather. Burlap seems to be the popular guess, so we’ll see if you all have figured it out or not come Wednesday night. And find out who won a book too.
Author
More great guesses.
Shirley, a basket weave makes sense, and Jeanne, the blanket weave does too. Weave seems to be the operative word there, but is it the right operative word? That remains to be seen.
Kathi & Connie – You two are thinking along the same lines. I have taken pictures of snake sheds before, so perhaps you’re right. Perhaps you aren’t. 🙂 But great guesses just in time for Halloween season.
Emily, always fun to see your guesses. Wicker chair makes sense and you’re not the first to guess waffle. So we shall see.
Author
Thanks for all the guesses again. Love the variety. You all are the best.
Margaret, it does look like the weave of something, doesn’t it?
Karen, love your guess of shredded wheat. Who knows? Might even be right. I sort of like shredded wheat for breakfast.
Paula, I see what you’re seeing. Like the second guess of dish scrubber. That’s not to say it’s right or wrong. You’ll have to wait until Wednesday to find out.
Marji, I love waffles. Well actually, I always think I’m going to love waffles more than I do once I order them. But they always look so good on the breakfast menus.
Becky, bee wings are interesting up close. So could be. Could not be.
Lucy & Karen G, burlap, hmm. Could be. Even might be, but we’ll have to wait for Wednesday for the big reveal to see if you’re on the right track. Karen, you have that second guess of a basket weave too. Gives you a double chance of being right. Glad you’ve had fun with the guessing game, Lucy.
A close-up of the back of a wicker chair or a close-up of a waffle fry? 😜
This one is especially tricky! Great job, Ann!😀
The weave in a blanket
I am trying to post my guess as a bee honeycomb and just the word honeycomb came back as too short comment.
Author
I didn’t know comments had to be long, Pat. But I see your comment now and a bee honeycomb makes sense. I do have a wild bee hive in a tree down the lane from my house. I see the bees flying in out and busily making that honey. So far I haven’t gotten stung when I walk past it, but my sister did once. I think the bee accidently had a collision course with her hair and then we couldn’t get it out. In the process of trying to free the bee, it got agitated and stung her.
I hate to find these but I am going to guess a shedded snake skin 🙂
Looks like snake skin to me ! Sort of..
It looks like the weaving of a basket to me
An autumn leaf?
Author
Hi, Geraldine. Thanks for stopping by to play my mystery photo game. Autumn leaf is a very good guess. You’ll have to check back Wednesday night or Thursday to see you’re right.
A basket weave or burlap.
Looks like burlap to me. Thank you for the fun I’ve had guessing.
I’m staying with a wing…this one from a wing of a bee
I know ! A round plastic mesh dish scratcher!
I must be hungry….looks like a waffle 😋
It looks like the closeup of lace or burlap. You’re really great at coming up with hard to guess items!
Looks like shredded wheat to me! 😊
I think it’s a close up of the weave on something either manmade or natural.