― Richard Paul Evans
Common Yellowthroat
It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? And people have seemingly lost their minds –– QAnon, the Cabal, Political power-grabs, the looming New Civil War, ALT-Right, Antifa, Racial strife, Protests (violent and non-violent), SARS-CoV-2, Mask mandates, Unemployment, Falling 401K plans, Random shootings, Road rage, Climate change, War, Poverty, Famine ... Argh!
There's too much information for a person to digest, so we take shortcuts with our attempts to understand what's going on in our world. Gut alone or things that just feel right isn't enough –– it will only get you so far. You must also parse information accurately, find errors in reasoning, and evaluate evidence –– rational reasons, good arguments, and empirical evidence leads to truth, and not the lack thereof. The preponderance of bad reasoning at this moment in our country's history is painful to observe, and that goes for folks on all radii of the political and ideological compass. That's because confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, cherry-picking is the modus operandi of the typical Internet user.
But never less true are Mary Oliver's words from her poem Wild Geese:
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
And that's why I spend so much of my time in Nature, decompressing and staying grounded when all around me seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. One can still find sanity and sanctuary in the great outdoors –– it's still there for you.
Have you seen the yellow accents in the canopy foliage? Fall isn't far away and southbound avian migration has already begun. Anyway, I went on a massive bug & critter hunt on Saturday. I hit the Pheasant Branch Creek Corridor, the prairie parcel, Deer Creek Pond, Pope Farm Conservancy, and a few other woodlots in the Middleton area. No real surprises, but the tree frogs were hilarious –– I was scouring cup plants for hopper insects and they just gawked at me hoping I wouldn't notice them. Macro photography is just way too much fun!
Pope Farm Conservancy
Buffalo Treehopper
With minimal effort I quickly located six or so Buffalo Treehoppers (Stictocephala taurina) clinging to the stems to feed on Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum). Citrus Flatid Planthoppers (Metcalfa pruinosa) were less choosy about their food source and were very abundant on a variety of plants and trees. There was only a single Northern Flatid Planthopper (Flatormenis proxima), which was resting motionless on a leaf. That was it for hoppers! I was hoping for a few other species, but it's still early in the summer insect season.
Citrus Flatid Planthopper
Northern Flatid Planthopper
The aforementioned tree frogs ...
Gray Tree Frog
The common, but close-up ...
Bergamot
Ironweed
Eastern Amberwing
I confess I'm not really all that into dragonflies right now, but I could see myself making it a satiating entomological interest. I'll always take the time to photograph one if it happens to perch near me, but I don't seek them out. While most species are pretty wary or skittish, I still think they're easier to approach and photograph than tiger beetles.
Autumn Meadowhawk
And a few other creepy crawlies ...
Gnat Ogre with prey
Cross Orbweaver
How much time ...
"It’s not just what they did with their time. It’s not just that they spent too much time working or compulsively checking email. It’s that they cared about the wrong things. They regret what they cared about. Their attention was bound up in petty concerns a year after year when life was normal. This is a paradox of course, because we all know this epiphany is coming. Don’t you know this is coming? Don’t you know that there’s gonna come a day when you’ll be sick, or someone close to you will die, and you’ll look back on the kinds of things that captured your attention and you’ll think, 'What, what was I doing?' You know this, and yet if you’re like most people, you’ll spend most of your time in life tacitly presuming you’ll live forever."
–– Sam Harris
Dogbane Leaf Beetle
All images © 2020 Mike McDowell