Books or Bugs?

There is a scene in the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte in which the eponymous Jane is telling Mr. Rochester a story about something that happened to her. At a crucial point in the story she decides she's told him enough for one night, and tells him she'll tell him the rest in the morning. His response is something along the lines of "WHAAAAAAT?!? TELL ME NOW!!!." She repeats that she will tell him in the morning, and since he thinks she might disappear overnight, she assures him that leaving her story unfinished is a guarantee that she will still be there in the morning. Every time I read the book I think that her logic here is nonsensical–how in the world does not finishing the story prove she'll be back? That may prove that Mr. Rochester will be there bright and early, waiting to hear the rest of it, because he is the one that wants to hear it, but she already knows the story, she could bail. Anyway, she does tell him the rest of the story in the morning, and the point of all of this literary discussion that has nothing to do with bugs is that I am like Mr. Rochester in that I can't deal with the suspense of an unfinished story. I hate uncertainty. So today, even thought it was 31ºF outside, below freezing, I went out to see if the tree cricket from yesterday was still there.

It was not. It wasn't on the tree, or anywhere nearby on the ground. I figure there are two possibilities for where it has gone: either it mustered up the energy to get itself into a better, more sheltered spot, or something at it. Probably the latter. That sounds sad for the cricket, but it was life-giving food for whatever ate it, so... thus goes the natural world.

I didn't plan on doing any further bug searching, because the temperature was, as I mentioned, below freezing. This is what my backyard looked like:

 All that rain has left the ground waterlogged, and when water in the soil freezes, it can make needle ice.

That is definitely NOT bug weather. But after looking for the cricket, as I was heading back to the house, I happened to see this (and had to go back in the house for my camera. I hadn't brought it out, I was so sure I wasn't going to find anything):

 Twice-stabbed ladybeetle. Probably chilled into a state of hibernation or diapause. I don't know if it was there yesterday, I didn't notice. But I was thinking, well, it got caught out by the cold, there won't be any active bugs today, and then, on the same tree, I saw...

 This fly was awake and moving. Not fast, but certainly active. And may I remind you that the temperature was BELOW FREEZING. It makes me laugh at all of the people who love winter because they think there are no bugs, because all the bugs die. Nope!

However, this was how things looked a few hours later:

 Our first real snow of the season. It's a little earlier than normal. And we got a little more than the forecast said. But it is supposed to be washed away by the rain tomorrow. I am anxious to see how the chrysanthemums react afterward.