Nature imitates...nature

I finally bought Aimee's last birthday present today. Yes, her birthday has passed, but there is much guilt involved when it comes to her birthday this year, so I must overcompensate. The guilt is partially due to my not be there for her birthday but I don't know what makes this year any different from all those others.

Anyway, after a quick shopping spree involving my dragging Apollo around town on a Sunday and embarrassing him by having him hold my purse, I walked towards our apartment steps and came face to face with this:

Those of you that remember the problems I had with caterpillars last spring will understand why my heart almost stopped when I saw what appeared to several of the beasts sticking straight out of a weed only inches away from my face. I immediately had flashbacks.

Of course, my brain told me that it was impossible for a real caterpillar to stick straight out like that but as you can see from Exhibit A, there is a striking similarity to the real thing:

Leave it to mother nature to remind me of her evil little minions!