– guest post by d
N had his midweek encounter with a preying mantis and so we’ve been a little in awe and terror of them; with their ominous martial prowess and camouflaging tendencies, they are indeed a formidable insect. And researching them this evening threw up all kind of magical and petallic ingenuity. Witness: the orchid mantis
I wore a unnameable (as yet unreleased) scent today; a sweet masculine tobacco that was moderately pleasing – a little too sweet and almondy to my nose but certainly interesting.
Sitting in the launderette in Ofuna after a delicious Indian/Nepali meal – the boss is away in Nepal right now and the staff have blossomed in terms of gregariousness and personality which led to an entirely different experience of the restaurant; perhaps less efficient but rather more rounded – I rather like the dry down because the sweet marzipan aspect has disappeared and a calm has manifested itself
Speaking of which, observe the mantis, majestic and delicate (yet ominous) careening over the lake on top of a turtle or a frog
The Black Narcissus 
What a beautiful creature! Just when the ugliness of the world starts to get to you, you see something like this and you marvel at the world again. Thanks for sharing!
The world has been damn ugly recently – I agree
I wonder how things might have been different if the pink one instead of the regular green one had visited? It is quite gorgeous.
what an incredible thought!
I think the whimsy of it combined with its insectoid truth would actually have been even worse
Riding on a lake on a gorgeously green frog (I love that colour combination) I would agree
NEAR ME, though – – – – you can see why people believed in fairies and such like. They were actually orchid mantises!
That really is a gorgeous creature.