A nod to nature. I adore creatures in camouflage that sneak up and surprise me. 

What was this creature? 

A flicker of lime green lured me to see it. I stared at the insect with its leaf-shaped wings the size of my thumb. The leaf bug as its known also had a patch of brown in between its wings, which made it almost invisible resting among the leafy bushes where I’d spot him or his cousin later.

Whether walking in the woods, down the the path, or strolling in my backyard, I have seen creatures camouflaged and admired their covert living.      

·         Toads imitated the bumpy brown tree bark. Only their eyes gave them away.      

·         Praying mantis perched on top of the canopy of leaves.

·         Hawks hidden in the crook of tree branches.

·         Ouch! The black ant that pinched me while pretending to be a tiny speck of nothing.

·         Slimy slugs poised as sticks.

·       Moths whose molted brown and orange looked like a dead leaves.

·         A weed that impersonated a flower to avoid being yanked out of my garden.

When I smiled at the knee-high weed, I’m signaling not only my disgust but also my wonder at how that wily weed evaded me.