Brunhilde or Bartleby has begun the chrysalis process. Let’s hope it all goes smoothly. As the surrogate parent of this butterfly precursor, please understand that this is a very nervous and exciting time for me.

On an unrelated (though similarly geeky) subject, the rare earth magnets I ordered arrived today. I have already pinched myself a dozen times. Magnets are so cool.

Serena is now back in school. We expect this to be her hardest year. And when I say that, keep in mind that she once gave birth on a Thursday and was back in school by Monday. Add in that she works 24 hours a week plus parental obligations (though I doubt she’d call them ‘obligations’), and she’s already had a couple of rough years. But like I said, we expect this to be worse. She’ll get through it, though. If she doesn’t, we’re going to feed her to the lions.

I found another Monarch caterpillar today. We’re going to watch it turn into a butterfly, like we did with Wilma two years ago. Its name is Bartleby if it is a male and Brunhilde if it is a female. I don’t really know how to tell the difference until I see their wings, so we’ll all be in suspense together for the next couple weeks or so.

What else is new? We went apple-picking. And I’ve become interested in pickles. We went to a Brewers game on Labor Day. Odessa and I watched every moment of the Democrat and Republican conventions. In years past I had to watch them alone, but now I have a buddy. Also, I am considering growing mutton chops. There will be more on that subject in the future. Let me just say that Chester Arthur was a handsome man. Regardless, you’ll just have to wait to see how that develops.

Finally, I’ll reveal something about myself that I’ve pretty much never told anyone other than Serena. Are you ready? I am completely fascinated by, and mildly obsessed with, palindromes. That is the truth.