Yellowjackets and fireworks

While eating grilled burgers and chips in the backyard (with me, R., D., and my mom), B's sharp eyes noticed something fascinating yet terrifying -- directly under D's chair, on the lawn, a newly hatched yellowjacket queen, nearly as big as my pinkie! Huge! Ack! It wasn't really moving yet, or I would never have dared photograph it. And then, after R. had successfully relocated it down the street a ways, B. also spotted a globe-sized aerial yellowjacket nest under the western eave of the house. It's a bit much. Yellowjacket queen:


We really enjoyed our fireworks this evening, even though we only had a $10 package this year, and fewer neighbors doing them within view of our driveway than usual. We could see someone's aerial ones to the north a few times, though. I'm particularly fond of the purple ones, like Purple Pearls. Here's Purple Rain and, I think, Diamond Cutter: