Rae Spencer

Injured Cicada

August 7, 2012Rae Spencer2 Comments

Over the last few summers, I’ve developed a genuine affection for cicadas. I like their gargoyle faces, which seem perpetually surprised. I’m fascinated by the deceptively delicate veins that trace through their sturdy wings. And I like the challenge of finding them, which is quite difficult for me, even though they noisily advertise their exact location.

So when I found this injured cicada on our driveway, looking like a premature autumn leaf, I felt a stab of regret and pity. It’s wings were curled and brittle, seemingly charred at the tips.

There’s no hope that it will ever fly, but I couldn’t bear to leave it struggling on the driveway, exposed to every passing predator. And when I offered it a stick, it eagerly climbed aboard. Despite the obvious futility, I ferried it into the back yard and released it in the wax myrtle.

I can’t pretend to have rescued the cicada. I can’t wish for it to meet a kinder fate among the wax myrtle’s branches than what loomed on the driveway. It’s injuries were too severe. Nature makes no exceptions, does not soften with regret and pity, even in such a tame yard as ours.

But as I walked away, the cicada was inching higher and higher, gradually disappearing against the dappled foliage overhead.

Recently in the Yard (with another arachnophobia alert…)

August 6, 2012Rae Spencer4 Comments

A few recent images from the yard…

And finally, this last picture makes me a little sad. When she was a young dog, before the arthritis and hearing loss and vision loss, Indigo was a dedicated rabbit-chaser…

Black Widow Spider (Arachnophobia Alert!)

August 5, 2012August 5, 2012Rae Spencer10 Comments

A few nights after our cicada adventure, the dog and I found a black widow during our late night stroll. In fact, we found three black widows. Once I knew what to look for, how to spot their messy web-nests, I was astonished at how many there were in the yard. Astonished and horrified.

(I apologize for the poor quality of this photo. It was taken from my camera’s greatest possible zoom distance, with shaking hands and racing heart and a powerful urge to run away.)

I don’t remember being afraid of spiders, when I was a child, but I have certainly become afraid of them in my adulthood. Whenever I find a spider, my reactions range from sweaty anxiety to paralyzed terror. The closer the arachnid, the more severe my physiological response. It’s not so much a fear of being bitten as it is a shivering revulsion of all those legs and eyes.

I don’t like this part of me, this unwanted instinct to race for a broom or break out a can of insecticide. So I’m working to overcome my fear. In the process, I’ve made peace with the orb weavers and jumping spiders in my yard. I’ve even perfected a glass-and-postcard system of wolf spider relocation, for when I find them in the house.

Even so, I cannot embrace the idea of a population of venomous spiders lurking under the fence and flower-bed borders. In this case, brooms and insecticide seem reasonable. Unless there are better ways to eradicate black widows. Any ideas?

Another Cicada Molt

August 3, 2012Rae Spencer15 Comments

Last night, I wandered outside around nine-thirty. A thin layer of clouds framed the moon, a cool breeze stirred the leaves, and the yard smelled like fresh-cut grass. I meant only to enjoy a late night ramble with the dog. So I was unprepared for this molting cicada. No camera. No shoes. No mosquito repellent.

After a few chaotic moments of rushing from room to room, tripping over the excited dog (she didn’t understand our new game, but did her best to play along), and dropping things that are too fragile to be dropped very often, I made it back to the fence in time to catch most of the molt.