School is out. That means the kids are home and in my home that's just me. Somehow my wife got the idea that I was bored and needed something to do. She suggested I familiarize myself with some kitchen operations. My mission, should I chose to accept it, was to wash a head of lettuce. The instructions seemed simple: core the center and rinse with cold water. I did that and noticed that when I ran the cold water, the lettuce head filled up like a bucket. It seemed to me that to achieve a true cleansing, the water must flow through. I cut a big hole dead center. My wife is still laughing.

    Earlier this week one of Plano Fire Rescue Specialist’s finest brought us a plastic bag containing a green caterpillar and a green cocoon. Tammy Welch, office manager extraordinaire, identified them as the beginnings of the Hackberry butterfly. The officer reported thousands of them and they basically denuded his Hackberry tree. A lot of them set up housekeeping on the underside of the eaves of his garage.

    The Hackberry, or sometimes-called Emperor butterfly is found near Hackberry trees, on which the larva feed in colonies. The striped caterpillar tapers toward both ends and has two small "horns" behind the head. It hibernates when partly grown. The butterfly is dark brown with white and black eyespots on the wings. I am not a big fan of Hackberry trees but if you feel the need to control these creatures, contact your favorite pest control and ask for something organic.