Counting

I worked for the grounds crew this summer.

As a result, I encountered a lot of bugs. Bugs don't bother me too much, so it's not really a problem. For example, one day I sat and watched a spider lay eggs for a few minutes while I rested in the shade. And another day, I was picking up these really pesky seeds that are little black balls. And this is where my blog post came to be.

I was picking up these seeds, and it was in the shade and under a bush, so I couldn't see particularly well. I was picking up tons of seeds, and all the sudden I felt something moving in my hand, where I had put all the seeds. Apparently, I had mistaken a rolly polly bug (apparently also known to some people (weirdos) as potato bugs...don't know where that one came from) for a seed, which was totally legit, because a rolled up rolly polly bug and these seeds were exactly the same size, shape, and color. I touched the rolly polly, and he balled up again, and I watched and waited for him to come "back to life."

And this is where my thoughts wandered. Do rolly polly bugs have some kind of system of how long they wait until returning to normality? I mean, this bug was on a flat and unmoving surface and waited a good minute before moving again. Do they count to sixty? Then I got this image in my head of a rolly polly bug counting to sixty all rolled up, just waiting. And I'm not talking how you counted to sixty in the fourth grade while waiting for your turn on the swing. I'm talking counting Mississippily (one, mississippi, two, mississippi, three....etc). And then I realized that I wasn't working, and I was talking to myself again.

So I put the bug down, and went back to my weeding.