I was taking a walk with the kids this afternoon when I noticed something fly from the path of my feet. At first I assumed it was a piece of mud, but then I noticed that it jumped again in a most un-mud-like display of determination.

I bent down to find the little purple grasshopper with greenish eyes. Finding this coloration would have been enough to excite me in the summer--finding on in the middle of winter was even more astounding. So I caught the little guy, dropped him inside my glove (it was the only place I could think of keeping him) and then continued on to some stores.

When I got home I put him through a battery of photographic tests... which are shown here.