08.26.07
Insects And Joy During The Season Of Fire
According to Traditional Chinese Theory Spring and Summer are the Yang seasons (outwardness, activity, movement). Fall and Winter are Yin seasons (inwardness, passivity, receptivity). Summer is the season associated with the Fire element, the season of the heart, the season of Joy. It’s the season of abundance, when plants and animals bear fruit, when everything is in full swing.
I haven’t posted here in quite awhile. I have spent more time enjoying nature less time at the computer.
One things I’ve been enjoying through July and August are the Cicadas. They sit in the trees, practically screaming, seeking out a mate. It always amazes me how even one single insect can make so much noise.
A few weeks ago I camped at Waubonsie State Park in Iowa. Located in Loess Hills it offers some outstanding views. At night, as expected, I heard the Cicadas only in much larger numbers than I have ever heard. They were joined by an equal number of Katydids, another loud insect, sometimes heard in the Omaha area but not in great numbers. The chorus of these insects was so loud and so intense. It ceased to be a individual insects and became something greater, something that became the perfect metaphor for the season of Fire, the season of Joy, the season of abundance. It made me consider the place of insects in the natural world.
Insects are the Mc Donalds of the animal world. There are billions and billions of them just in or own town. They are everywhere. They are the sound of life and being near the bottom of the food chain they support life up that chain.
Insects are a perfect representation of the life going on around us. They represent the ebb and flow of Yin and Yang. To get an idea of this imagine yourself on a summer evening just after sunset. The air is humid, the temperature is hot. The Cicadas are singing all around. Now imagine yourself in the same place, same time of day, only during winter. The air is dry, the temperature is cold (since this is our fantasy we won’t make it bitter cold). And there is silence! If you go back and forth between these two times you can feel the difference between the intense outwardness and joy of all the life you are surrounded by in Summer and the inwardness and hidden life of Winter (for example the next years Cicadas are under ground).
It is for this reason that I grieve the loss of insects in late Fall and Winter. Sure insects can be pests (especially flies and mosquitos), but if you look at the bigger picture they are so much more.
Enjoy the life all around you! Fall is just around the corner.
