the return of mothra

okay, so b-movies aside, i was taking brinkley outside to relieve himself the other morning, and as i walked out the front door of our apartment building i could have sworn that i saw a large leaf stuck on one of the banisters near the door. as brinkley attended to his "business" i investigated more closely to find not a leaf, but...

a ridiculously large moth just hanging out!!! now, in all fairness, i have seen large moths before, but they were usually in displays for science projects or collections. i have NEVER seen a moth this large in the wild - especially not this far north!!! at first, i wasn't certain that it was alive - the previous night had been a bit cold, but after i picked up the remnants of brinkley's "business transaction" i noticed that the insect had changed wing position.

interesting find for an early morning... it did make me think back to a class halloween party we had a couple years ago - and now i'm wondering if just possibly my classmate dennis may have had something to do with this seemingly random sighting... hmmm...