BUGS

Right now, in the vineyards, you gotta love the bugs. They're everywhere, cicadas, grasshoppers, spiders of all shapes and colors... The cicada, along with the bee, is one of the symbols of Provence. You'll find them embroidered on table cloths and napkins and in almost any form of cheesy tourist junk you can imagine.  In the vineyards though, they are amazing.  The Cigales (cicadas) start singing their song about 10 in the morning.  In some places it's almost deafening. Well not really, but the buzz is amazing.  It's super hot and dry here,  just the right weather for them.  As you walk through the vineyards and brush up against the vines, suddenly you'll hear a squawk, which normally scares the tail off of me, and a cigale will go flying away... Take a closer look, they really are very beautiful bugs.

On Thursday when we were out spraying sulfur on the vines to prevent powdery mildew (oidium), I looked over and Matt was covered with them (click on the picture you can see them on his shirt!)! He calls them his friends.  They are quite cute.  When it was my turn on the tractor, I had one on my shirt for a good hour.  They just like hanging out.  Then there was one on my La Gramière hat. Pretty great picture, huh?  Couldn't have staged that one if we tried!