A FEW YEARS ago we were staying at my sister's apartment in Brooklyn when Michaela, who was six or seven at the time, cheerfully informed me that there was a cricket in the bathtub. I went to check it out. The insect, which was several inches long, was waving its delicate antennae in the air. That's not a cricket, I told her. Michaela promptly lost interest. She was not quite as cheerful about having a cockroach in the tub. As any responsible parent would do, I closed the shower curtain so we wouldn't have to look at it.
Cockroaches are to New York City what cicadas are to Illinois. We are living amidst a semi-rare emergence of cicadas that have been hibernating underground since 2007 and 2011. Earlier this month Chad and I wrapped netting around our baby trees to protect them from the cicadas laying eggs, which reportedly impact the tree's growth. Will it make any difference? Do cicadas really create that much damage? Who knows. Every morning over the past week Chad has been reporting on the growing number of cicadas in our front yard. On Monday there were a few empty shells scattered here and there; today thousands of live cicadas swarm our plants. When the kids walk to school in the morning, they scream as they hopscotch over the bugs.
Bugs are fascinating. Cockroaches never lived in the wild. Instead they evolved to coexist with us; they are fully adapted to "human-made environments," i.e., cities like New York. The ants crawling all over the apple tree in our backyard are tending to minuscule aphid colonies; in exchange for protecting the aphids, the ants get to eat the "honeydew" the aphids excrete. Yum? Cicadas wait years to emerge so that multiple generations can emerge en masse, thus giving the species a fighting chance to avoid predators.
Humans could take a note from bug survival strategies. Chad told me that Karenna Gore, who is a climate activist and Al Gore's daughter, spoke at Harvard Graduate School of Design's Class Day ceremony on Wednesday. She observed that planet earth is perfectly designed, with only one flaw: us.
Three Things That Kept Me Going This Week
- The Moth at Fitzgerald's. I have long been interested in seeing a live Moth event. I tagged along with my neighbors to a performance this past Tuesday and it was delightful. But beyond being entertained by the various stories, I was amazed by how good it felt to be in community. I guess I am still recovering from the isolation of the pandemic and relearning how to function in groups. Going to the Moth reminded me of the importance of social interaction, especially when it comes to mental health.
- Cicada humor courtesy Ariel K! (Also this is the largest gathering of insects since 1803?!?!)
- Gardening is therapeutic. Except when you are stressing out about fending off aphid-farming ants or invasive jumping worms or tree-destroying cicadas...
That's all for this week. Happy Memorial Day and enjoy the long weekend!
xo,
Claire