Give 'em an inch, and....

 On Saturday, my youngest son was playing in the woods with friends when he came across this Inchworm.  That's a somewhat generic term, of course, but here are the photos he took with his smart phone just before losing it in the undergrowth.  He and his friends drove back to the area equipped with a laptop with GPS, and tried to find the phone to no avail.  Yesterday, I went out to the area with him equipped with his laptop and my own smart phone.  He's a whiz with these devices, so I stood by

and watched while he communicated among these devices and was able to check on the remaining battery life on his phone - over 60% - then commanded his phone to start ringing as we closed in on the coordinates provided by the maps on our devices.  When we got within a few yards of the phone, Ryan could hear it ringing.  Then we moved in for the capture, at which time he emailed me these two photos.  I had just had an unhappy encounter with speeding bikers when I opened the photos on my computer.  The first thought that came to mind was the old phrase "give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile."  I decided that I'd better look up the phrase before posting this comment, and was surprised to find it's over 400 years old.  It's recorded in a collection by one John Heywood, a Brit
who captured many proverbs that were common back then and are still in use today.  Anyway, if the connection still seems obscure, it's because the experience on the trail, the loss of Ryan's phone, and the fact that my truck is back in the shop, have left me a bit rattled.   This morning I got so many wonderful photos on the FRC campus, I hope to get back to unadulterated enjoyment of bug photography and blogging.  I may rant a bit more about what's happening to "my" trails, but I'll do it while in a better mood. :)