<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Ladybugs<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">What guides the ladybugs<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">to cluster every year<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">in the early winter months<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">alongside the Stream Trail?<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">How do they remember,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">locate their way back,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">find each other?<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Clustering on dead logs<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">and in the sunny patches of <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">blackberry brambles, they rest,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">lay their eggs, and <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">wait for Spring.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""> <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Why are ladybugs, like salmon<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">pitting their way back<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">to the places of their spawning,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">smarter than we supposedly<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">superior humans?<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">They know to spend the bleak<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">winter months congregating with<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">their companions, while we so often think<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">we must overwinter alone, or only<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">with a few of our nearest and dearest.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""> <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Here is what ladybugs know:<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Rest.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Find your way home.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Huddle up together.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class="">Stay warm.</div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Maya Spector</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" class=""><img apple-inline="yes" id="3707FD7D-0A00-461A-9600-111C1C8CC7C1" height="640" width="480" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:F723C639-976F-44B1-94C4-3FD0BF40600E@gateway.sonic.net" class=""></div></body></html>