i am like a god! a carelessly destructive one, as most seem to be, whose purposes are unfathomable to the creatures whose lives i disturb.
six cords of firewood for the winter were delivered and dumped in our driveway a month ago.
most years i would be stacking it in the garage, whenever so moved, not rushing, enjoying the process, but not this year.
john has promised the job to the kid (the one who mows our lawn) and arranged to pay him by the job. is it my bit of scottish DNA playing up that keeps me therefore from moving so much as one piece? perhaps i could divide the number of pieces into the quoted price and subtract each one i move?
today i had to relocate a few pieces to weigh down the tarp over the lawn mower. (i've learned not to say tarpaulin, as i have gone into stores to ask for this and been told they never heard of such an item).
as i said, the wood has been there a month now. i picked up the first piece, at the edge of the pile, and there, curled under it, was a red eft, surely one of nature's most sweetly innocent and vulnerable looking creatures. i carefully replaced the wood feeling like i had done something bad.
as i went on choosing and removing pieces, i caused monstrous upheavals in critter land. entire nations of earwigs... mothers, fathers, babies... were sent screaming in panic in every direction!
ants of course live and store their eggs everywhere, and can hardly be avoided being disturbed with every step. it doesn't help to know that ants will die if lost from their family of sisters, and that earwig mothers actually watch over their young until they grow big enough to fend for themselves.
the slugs...well i'm not sure if they were male, female, both, child or adult, and i'm not even sure they noticed that the log was moved. i have read that slime mold is quite intelligent, but i don't know of any research involving slugs.
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