The breakfast club

One advantage of having to water every morning: Getting up close and personal with the fauna, as well as the flora.

Lots of what we plant -- like these pentas in the veranda garden -- bring bees, butterflies and hummingbirds by the swarm, and we've all gotten used to each other over the weeks.

Sometimes very used to each other. It's taken some self-control not to shudder, but when I have a light coat of sweat I often feel butterflies landing on my shoulder and back, taking a quick taste, and moving on to the sweeter stuff.