Woolly Bear adult

I should have known this moth, which I found perched on the cedar shingles by the kitchen porch light, almost instantly. After all, I had seen and written about its caterpillar stage at least once annually throughout my entire writing and teaching career, now nearly half a century old. The youngster is the fabled black and rusty orange weather prophet known as the Woolly Bear—yes, that one... the one whose relative amounts of black and orange "fur" can predict the severity or lack thereof of the coming winter. (Lots more black than orange, very cold and snowy; vice versa, warm and wet.) However, I somehow had forgotten to know the adults, a.k.a., the Isabella Tiger Moth, so when this creature with the spotted abdomen presented itself, I had to go on a long search through my books and various moth identification sites for guidance. Now, I know. With any luck, I won't forget and have the proverbial wool pulled back over my eyes.