Insects are Interesting

I grew up in a childhood idyll;  beside my house was an enormous wild meadow.  Technically, it was a Hydro Right-of-Way, but it was an unspoiled field with long grasses, wildflowers galore and — especially appealing to us kiddos, bugs galore.  It was in that field that my love of wildflowers was born and too, I suppose, my fondness for insects.  

There were only six houses on our wee street, 10 boys and me.  That field was our playground all year-round.  During wintertime, the depressions in the field made for perfect ice rinks and on those I learned both how to skate and, more excitingly to me, how to play hockey (much to Mum’s chagrin!).  

The real pleasures happened during the summer when the wildflowers were in bloom.  Twice each year, Ontario Hydro would cut the grass and then we’d rake huge mounds of it to build intricate forts, complete with rooms and battlements; we needed to be able to fire (water guns) on our opponents without getting wet ourselves.  The mind boggles, non!?!

After those cuts, when the grass was at its shortest, our dads would take turns hauling their lawnmowers out into the field to cut base lines for us so we could play softball. We enjoyed two, very short, seasons each summer; as soon as the grass began to grow we’d have to quit due to a problem finding balls. There were actually three teams — us, the “Joys” (we lived on Joy Dr.), and from the east side of the field the “Towers” (Tower Dr.) and from the west side of the field the “Elinors” (Elinor Ave.). Competition was fierce, let me tell you.  Those games happened at night when the parents would umpire and keep the peace.  

During the summer holidays, “bug catching” was our game of choice.  The guys all had Mason jars to save their bugs but my mum wouldn’t let me go running off with glass.  My sweet dad, knowing how disappointed I was, fashioned a crude wire frame (complete with “hatch” door) and my mum covered it with fine mesh fabric.  ‘Though I badly wanted to be the same as the others, it turned out my contraption was best of the lot — having good air flow, my bugs lived all the day long.  The boys’ bugs, however, typically wilted/collapsed/died long before we were called in for dinner.  

Mum adamantly (think enormous hissy fit) refused to allow me to bring my bug cage in the house so it always had to stay on the back verandah.  Mysteriously, every morning my cage was empty again.  As soon as I went to bed each night, Dad stealthily returned the bugs to the field, unharmed, to live and fight another day.  

Now, one of my favourite things about wildflower photography is that I also often capture (sometimes to my later surprise) any number of insects, either on or approaching the blossoms.  I enjoy watching them, shooting them, identifying them and then learning about the specific role each one plays in our biosphere.

’Til next time, y’all…