plunk!

Something hit Laura's hed and fell to the ground. She looked down and saw the largest grasshopper she had ever seen. Then huge brown grasshoppers were hitting the ground all around her, hitting her head and her face and her arms. They came thudding down like hail. - On the Banks of Plum Creek, Chapter 25, "The Glittering Cloud"

Like a cricket on the hearth, a grasshopper ornament is supposed to bring you good luck. I didn't know that when I noticed a display of paper and wire grasshopper ornaments at a hippie-granola food store a decade ago. Like Laura when she saw the dog's-head button, I just squealed when I saw the tree full of grasshoppers. I only bought four of them, but the others are so well hidden on my tree that I couldn't find them when it came time to photograph.
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:11 AM