2011, Day 313 - Visitation

It is funny, this year I have seen a tremendous number of ladybugs.  Often I am walking the dogs or stopping to take a closer look at a flower and there, hidden in plain sight, is a ladybug.  They are special to me and have been since I was thirteen when my grandmother wrote me a letter prior to a backpacking trip in New Mexico saying that she wished she was a ladybug so she could sit on my shoulder and share my adventures.  That letter was shared with everyone in the family and since then we always associated my grandmother with these speckled red beetles.  She was such a warm person, a woman of endless patience and love for everyone; my grandmother was the heart of the family so her passing a few years ago was quite a blow.  Now every time I see a ladybug I think of her and although I am a devout heathen I feel as though she is there to share my adventures.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 70-200/f2.8L IS Mark II with 12mm Extension Tube
70mm, f5.6, 1/500 sec @ 200 ISO