Yogis,
It’s echinacea season! Also called coneflower, echinacea is a summer classic. Her
large daisy shaped flowers come bathed in brilliant pinks, oranges and yellows and
its easy to lose yourself in her spiral. For those who prefer order though, tidiness
is not her style. She reaches, leans, blocks the path and peeks from behind
nearby plantings. I personally love her messiness.
And so do the bugs……
I sat with my echinacea for a half hour one steamy late afternoon and watched her life. She has quite the busy social calendar. Bees adore her. From the tiniest to the large fuzzy ones with legs covered in pollen, they fly from blossom to blossom, heads buried deep. Butts sticking up in the air.
Then of course there are the butterflies. Large swallowtails
and several varieties of smaller butterflies flutter threw with grace. This one
posed and I swear gave me a little smile.
As I kept sitting quietly though, I noticed the smaller insects who too are drawn to her beauty. A fly who used her petals as a look out. A vivid green cricket who would have been easy to miss as he was the size of my pinkie fingernail. A small brown bug that I have never seen before and honestly couldn’t tell which end was which.
An earthworm slithered up from the ground where I had my
hand placed and only a few inches away an army of ants worked on a worm that
had died, taking on the critical role of clean up. We need them all.
Over this past month I have had four different clean shaven
well dressed young man come to the door to sell me outdoor pest control. Not
indoor…..outdoor. Seems to be the new push to grow market share. So no longer
are we only killing the bugs in the house, but now you too can ‘create an
insect barrier around your property perimeter.’
This all started with the mosquito spraying. It then moved onto ticks. Now the ants and spiders who lurk in our bushes and lawns are the enemy. Gnats……gone. Centipedes…..no more.
With each young man I had the same conversation. They would
give their pitch and I would say I wasn’t interested. Then they asked ‘is it
because you don’t want chemicals on your yard?’. I know their next line would
be how natural and organic what they spray to kill things is. But I really don’t
want to hear that. I look them in the eye and tell them I like bugs on my
property. That in fact I plant things to attract them. With that they leave…..
The world outside your door is the bug’s home. Its all they
have and with our sprawl we keep taking more of it. And without them, there are no frogs. Without frogs
there are no snakes. Without snakes we become overrun with rodents. No bugs….no
birds. You get the idea. Insects are the basis of the food chain and without
them we literally cannot live.
Remember the phrase ‘Every creature great and small?’ Each
bug has a purpose. They were put here, just as you and I were. With intention.
It isn’t our role to decide which stay and which don’t. Not to mention the poor
birds and chipmunks whose homes are inadvertently drowned in spray.
Don’t buy into the fear. In your home – yes if necessary (although
sealing your home is a far healthier approach). In nature – please consider
saying no as they ring your doorbell.
Studies are showing that insects are declining 2.5% a year,
SARAH
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