:: When we seed millions of acres of land with these
plants [genetically modified], what happens to foraging birds, to insects, to microbes, to the
other animals, when they come in contact and digest plants that are
producing materials ranging from plastics to vaccines to pharmaceutical
products? ::
- Jeremy Rifkin
I'm a gardener. When my grandmother died I inherited all of her garden gear and a stack of books filled with lovely insect, flower and leaf images. It wouldn't be unusual for someone to give me a print or a book filled with images like the ones below. I've used the wasp as a metaphor for the small thing that can hurt you, and one of my painting mediums, encaustic, uses molten bees wax tempered with resin. Now if you don't think that is enough to bring the bees around, consider that all of my doors are coated and sealed with bees wax. On a warm day the bees are screaming!
One of the Abuelas in my hood has agreed to teach me how to raise the stingless honey bees that live here in Yucatan. When I was little my grandparent called me Abeille, which is French for bee. My nickname is the result of a entire life time of bees landing on my clothing and never once being stung. Just last week my sweet sister sent me a fabulous link to a gorgeous bee hive. My little Merida house is called La Colmena Azul, The Blue Hive, and once I finish my research on recreating Maya Blue my house will be painted the most ancient and enduring blue on Earth.
I've been bitten by a Brown Recluse that traveled from Austin to Berkeley. and tagged by a couple of scorpions. The cast iron plants in my Austin garden seemed to attract hornets, and the intentional placement of rotting tree limbs under the eves of the house served as home for Mason bees. Nearly all of the deer blinds on my ranch harbored Africanized bees, and they particularly liked the warmth of one wall in the cabin as I discovered when I tried to seal up the window casing. You may not know this but the cockroach is the unofficial state bird of Louisiana. I've witnessed cockroaches eat through a bar of rose water scented soap, cereal boxes and electrical cords. Disgusting creatures for sure and a bit on the neurotic side when it comes to their flying habits, yet I can't say I'm afraid of them.
Nothing compares to this monster - NOTHING!
I offer these small pieces of entomological fascination as proof that I have not been afraid of insects, ever, until I began living in my Mérida house. Manuel, my wonderful contractor, has been making arrangements to have the front door relocated to the side of the house. Of course this requires so many steps it is unfathomable that the whole circus tent won't collapse before we accomplish the task! In the meantime I am faced with the very strong possibility that I will be killing one of the most frightening bugs I have ever seen You see, the front door serves as a very convenient means for the horrible-terrible-humungous water beetle pictured above to enter my house.
We don't have a sewage/water drain-off system in Mérida. Each time it rains, and that seems to be everyday since June, the streets of Centro Historico are flooded. I don't mean just a few inches. This is enough water to move bald tires left on the curb of one calle to the curb of another a few blocks down. There is enough water to lift asphalt pot hole fills, move entire collections of plastic trash and possibly my little toaster car. There are storm drains that function more like holding tanks, as their depth is finite. The one just outside my front door is home to the dreadful Toe Biter! If it weren't for my cat and dog, I suppose the creature would have had a chance at survival. I initially thought I was seeing a mouse as the light was low and I didn't have my glasses planted on my face. II grabbed the nearest object and beat the holy crap out of that thing! Scared my animals to death as I was terrified that the Toe Biters' jaws were aiming to eat my babies!
Damn Toe Biter!
Create the life you want!
The Broad
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